The Lion King 3
by HeroOfTheCastleOfMarble
Summary: The sun has risen on a new generation of kings at Pride Rock. But darkness is casting itself across the pridelands. New Characters and old ones. Please read and review! Complete
1. Chapter 1

So The Lion King is one of my all time favorite movies, it is my favorite disney movie, followed shortly by Beauty and the Beast and The Great Mouse Detective. This story has actually been on my computer for awhile, it's not done yet and needs some serious editing...but it will slowly and surely work its way onto this site.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the The Lion King(1,2, or 1 1/2) Anyone else that you don't recognize is mine.

Enjoy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lion King III

Chapter One

The sun peaked over the pride lands, coating it in bright reds, oranges, and yellows. Zebras and antelope perked up their heads as the cry rang through the land. A cub had been born from Princess Kiara and her new mate, Kovu.

All over the pride lands the cry called to the animals. The elephants began to plod slowly across the miles of grass. The birds glided through the sky, towards the rock that stretched to the clouds above. The others herds rushed through the rivers and brush, finally reaching the throne of the lions.

The old baboon Rafiki stood at the edge of Pride Rock, nodding approvingly at the animals who were gathering. Hearing footsteps behind him Rafiki turned and bowed to the King and Queen.

Simba and his mate Nala nodded at the old baboon. Both were getting older, but they had not yet given up their royal titles to their successors.

A line of lionesses had followed the King and Queen. Some were very thin, some gray in color, and others tan. Half of the lionesses had once been Outsiders, but now had been accepted into the pride.

Next three odd animals came and settled around the King and Queen. One was a blue bird, the Kings Royal Advisor, Zazu. The last two were Simba's best friends, Timon the meerkat, and Pumba the warthog. Finally everyone was ready. Heads turned to look at the den entrance and Simba smiled.

Standing in the cave was Simba's daughter, Kiara, and Kovu. Their heads held high they walked past the lionesses and up to Rafiki. Kovu lowered his head and set down a ball of dark fur. Kiara did the same, but her bundle had golden fur. The animals had been wrong. There hadn't been one cub born, but two!

Rafiki picked up both cubs and held them up for the animals to see. The golden furred male, the smaller of the two watched through amber as the animals bowed their heads to the two princes. He tried to curl up in a ball as he heard the loud trumpets and calls of the animals. His brother batted at a flying butterfly and then turned his head up to the sky. Surrounded by clouds, high in the heavens was a lion's face. A lion as gold as the sun with a mane as red as blood. The dark cub watched as a glow of gold light stretched down from the sky and bathed the smaller cub in its brilliance. The dark cub flicked his ears and yowled in a baby growl and the lion and light faded.

Finally the animals stopped and Rafiki gave the two cubs back to their mother and father, who took them back to the cave. Simba watched with mixed happiness. It had been a long time since two cubs had been born from the royal family. The last time it had been Mufasa and Scar, and Simba flinched remembering how that had turned out. Perhaps these cubs would be stronger. Their parents where. Simba still remembered how Kovu and Kiara had jumped in between himself and Zira, fearless and in love. Sighing, Simba made his way back to the cave to see his new grandchildren.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes I know it's a short chapter...but read and review anyway. I'll try to get chapter two on tonight, if not it will get on there sometime this coming weekend...since Summer Break is starting. yay! So tell me what you think...thanx :)


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you so much to my reviewer...I didn't think I was going to be able to put this on tonight, but I did get it in. Yay! So I hope that this is up to your standards **xx Princess Kiara**:) :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Lion King storyline (any of them except this one at least) and I don't own any character names you recognize. I do own Shalu, Talo, Suaz, and Selan (even though this will probably be the only time she's here). So don't use unless you ask really nice.

Kudoos guys!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2

Darkness hung over the pride lands like a blanket. The herds of animals lay in the long grass, taking advantage of the night. On Pride Rock, however, there was movement. A small cub ran out of the cave and to the tip of Pride Rock to look out. His fur was a dark brown with a tuff of black fur on his head and tail. His eyes were a bright green and his paws large. He flicked his tail side to side as he watched the sun begin to peak over the horizon. The orange glow washed over the land and then passed over Pride Rock. The young cub, Talo, leapt in the air and made a noise that was a small attempt toward a roar. He turned and ran back into the cave and jumped on his brother Shalu.

Shalu yelped and rolled away. His eyes were amber to his brother's green, and his fur was golden like the sun. He was smaller in build than Talo with a leaner body and smaller paws. His golden bangs were tinted red on his forehead, as was the tip of his tail that he swished back and forth in annoyance.

"Wake up Shalu! It's morning!" Talo said, pinning his brother to the ground and standing over him like a king. "Time to play!"

Shalu saw the sun rising up over the hills. "It's barely morning." Moaned Shalu. He struggled to get out from under Talo, but to no avail. The other cub was just bigger and stronger.

"So? The sooner we start playing the more time we have to play." Talo said smartly. "Come on get up!" He griped, batting Shalu with a paw.

"What about mom and dad?" Shalu asked as he allowed Talo to herd him outside.

"They know we'll be playing and we won't go too far, just near the water hole. Besides, Vitani can always find us." Talo said, watching as Shalu stretched. "Come on!" he repeated growing impatient. Shalu flicked his ears in an annoyed fashion and followed Talo down Pride Rock toward the water hole.

"So…what are we gonna do today?" asked Shalu, trying to stifle a yawn as the two cubs padded across the open Savannah.

"We could go to the Outlands." Talo suggested, grinning mischievously.

"You're crazy. I'm not getting eaten by a crocodile just so you can see a termite haven." Shalu retorted, leaping on a log, and looking at Talo.

"I was kidding." Talo walked past his brother and splashed into the water hole, frightening the birds that had been sleeping. "Wake up little birds!" He called laughing.

Shalu snorted in silent amusement at his brother's idea of fun. Quickly he leapt in beside his brother, sending water everywhere. Talo tackled him, pinning him down in the shallow water.

"Ha!" Talo replied grinning.

Shalu spluttered and managed to push Talo off and stood up as he heard a female voice laughing. He looked and saw a tan female cub watching him and Talo. Suaz. Her blue eyes glinted as she laughed at the two of them.

"You two are so weird. I pity the pride when one of you becomes king." She informed them, smiling.

Talo felt a hot blush run up to his ears as he glared at the lioness. "Yeah? Well when I'm king the first thing I'll do is banish you to the jungle." He retorted loudly.

Suaz snickered. "Yeah? What if Shalu's king? Or what if I'm made Queen? What then hot-shot?"

Talo smirked at her. "Well I definitely won't be your mate and Shalu wouldn't be either so you'll never be queen. And if Shalu is king then he'll banish you too. Won't you?" He asked his brother.

Shalu shrugged and grinned. "We're both gonna be king so you can banish her if you want."

Suaz rolled her eyes. "You can't both be king."

"Sure we can!" Shalu retorted. He glanced uneasily at his brother. "Right?"

Talo nodded quickly. "Yeah. We're going to be the kings of Pride Rock. And there's nothing you can do about it!" He stuck his tongue out at Suaz.

Sauz made a face and rolled her eyes. "Oh you'll be a very mature king, won't you." She replied sarcastically.

Talo felt the burn of the insult and stamped his front paws in retaliation, sending water all over Suaz. She gasped in surprise and tried to shake the cold water off as Talo and Shalu laughed loudly.

Suaz growled and pounced. Talo flailed in the water as she head-butted him. Talo growled and nipped at her hind paws. Suaz leapt out of the way and bounded off, Talo and Shalu running after her.

Suaz stopped to catch her breath near some water buffalo. Talo and Shalu tackled her and the three of them rolled around in the dirt laughing.

"Talo! Shalu! Suaz!" A feminine voice drifted over the grass. Shalu raised his head and saw a sleek female lion coming up to them. Her tan bangs fell lightly on her forehead, her blue-purple eyes glinted. "Haven't I told you all enough times to not go running off before the pride has woken up?" She asked.

"Doesn't really matter, does it?" asked Talo. "You can always find us anyway.

"A valid point." Vitani agreed. "But that doesn't change the fact that I've told you not to run off. What if I couldn't find you?"

"I bet we could find our way home by ourselves, it's not like it's that hard to find." Retorted Talo. "It's a huge rock pointing up to the sky."

Vitani's mouth twitched as though she was trying not to smile. "Come on you three. Your mothers want you." She began herding them back toward Pride Rock.

"What do they want us for?" Asked Shalu as he ran in between Talo and Suaz.

"You can ask them when we get there." Vitani told him sternly and nudged them on.

When they reached Pride Rock Vitani led them through the other lionesses lying around, to Nala, Kiara, and Selan, Suaz's mother, who were lying at one of the top rocks. Simba and Kovu were no where to be found.

Shalu leapt over his mother and rolled into Nala's side. Nala swept him over with loving eyes before grabbing him, placing him between her forepaws and licking his ear.

"Well we now know why they wanted us." Suaz said as her mother grabbed her and began to give her a bath as well.

Talo leapt out of his mother's reach. "But mama I'm already clean. We were playing in the water hole, so I already had a bath." He told her hopefully. Vitani tripped him as he leapt away again and Kiara held him with one paw while she licked him clean.

Shalu twitched his ears as he heard a loud roar. Simba. The great, red-maned lion stepped close to Nala and watched his young grandson. Shalu made a weak smile then spotted his dad coming up behind Simba. "Dad!" He leapt out of Nala's weak grip and wove around his father's legs. Kovu nudged him playfully in the rump.

Talo wiggled away from his mother and bounded over to his father. "Hey dad!"

Kovu sat down and let Talo climb up his back and rest in his black mane. Kiara gave her mate an exasperated look and came over to him to lick his cheek. "I already had my bath." Kovu teased her and rubbed her ear with his nose.

"That doesn't work. I already tried." Talo told him grinning. He glanced at Suaz who was still putting up with her bath. "Having fun getting nice and pretty?"

Suaz sniffed at him. "I'm pretty without a bath, I just don't want to smell like you!" Talo yowled at her and leapt off his father's back.

"Can we go play dad? Please!" He asked, smiling in what he hoped was a winning way. Nala held back a chuckle as she recognized the face.

Kovu looked at Kiara and then down at Talo and Shalu, who had joined in his brother's begging. "All right, but be careful." He warned.

Talo ran off, leaping over napping lionesses as he did. Shalu went a little more carefully and waited for Suaz before catching up with Talo.

"So now that we've gotten permission to play….what are we going to do?" Asked Shalu.

"I don't know." Talo said. "Anything's better than a bath." He shivered slightly for effect.

"Baths aren't that bad, Talo." Suaz scolded and leapt in front of him. "Though it doesn't ever do you any good."

"Why's that?"

"Because you always end up getting dirty again!"

Talo ignored her and ran up on a small rock. He let his eyes wander over the Savannah, taking in the grass, trees, water, and all the different animals. It was magnificent. And one day, it was going to be his. Well, part his. He glanced at Shalu and grinned as he saw his brother being pinned by Suaz. Together they would rule it all, and be the best kings there ever was in the history of Pride Rock. Talo turned from the brilliant sight and leapt toward the other cubs.

---------------

A couple days later, as the sun was beginning to set on the horizon, Talo and Shalu slowly made their way back to Pride Rock. Shalu nearly ran to catch up with Talo, who had leapt at a grasshopper, which managed to evade the young cub's paws. Shalu felt a wind ruffle his fur and he turned and looked behind him. There was that feeling again. It never seemed to leave him, as though he was being watched by someone. Silly, he told himself. Just silly.

Talo looked and saw his brother looking off behind him thoughtfully. It always worried Talo when his brother had that look on his face, as though he was getting lost in all his different thoughts and ideas. Talo stepped up to him and nudged his brother in the shoulder, snapping Shalu out of his daze.

"Huh what?" Asked Shalu distractedly.

"You were doing it again." Talo informed him as they began walking back in the direction of Pride Rock.

"Doing what?"

"Looking off at nothing. It's creepy." Talo said, leaping up on a log that passed over a thin stream from the water hole. He began walking across it. Shalu followed him, then out of the corner of his eye caught a reflection in the water. He turned his head quickly but only saw his small face. Funny, he thought, I could've sworn I saw another lion. He looked around and felt a chill run clear through him. He hurried across the log and nearly ran into Talo who was waiting for him.

Talo shook himself off after being nearly run over and threw his brother a half exasperated look. Shalu gave him a guilty look in return.

"Hey, Talo, do you ever feel like, I don't know, like you're being watched, or followed. Like you have a guardian who you just can't see?" Shalu asked uncertainly.

Talo gave his brother a tired look. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know like a spirit or something watching over you." Shalu prodded on.

Talo looked up at the sky. The light was already escaping from the sky, and a few glittering stars were beginning to appear. "Those are the only things that watch over us." He said sitting down and gazing at the blackening sky. "The great kings of the past."

Shalu sat down beside him and let his gaze be swept away by the bright stars, the old kings of the past looking down at him. The Great Mufasa and his mate Sarabi. And one day Simba, Nala, Kovu, Kiara, and even himself and Talo.

Shalu looked down and over his shoulder at the water. It wasn't the same feeling as he'd had before though, or as he always seemed to have. It wasn't the same as when he father was watching him, or when Vitani came to find them. It was different. He glanced at Talo. "Are you sure you don't feel anyone else watching?" he questioned softly.

Talo didn't let his eyes stray from the sky. "Maybe sometimes. But everyone feels like that, or wants to feel like it." He looked at his brother. "Don't worry so much, Shalu. Relax and enjoy life."

"I am enjoying it." Shalu said standing up and shaking himself. Talo rolled his eyes and led the way back to Pride Rock at a run, a soft wind kicking at their heels.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2- officially done! So in case any of you really cares (which you probably don't) Talo and Shalu are real names. Talo means dark and Shalu means light. Ooooo foreshadowing? possibly. I'm real into that and symbolism. Don't like it...o well that's me for ya. Suaz I believe I just made up and Selan is actually a real name too...dunno what it means so if you want to know that then you'll have to look it up yourself...sry.

Anywho I'm gonna stop babbling. Hopefully I'll get up chapter 3 soon...depends on if reviews are good (cough cough nudge nudge) So Review my lovelies! please:) :)


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys. Thank you so much for the review **xx Princess Kiara**, Talo's my favorite too, and yes Shalu is a bite of an oddball. Wow I had 109 hits on the last chapter...though how many of those were the same person I don't know, and that might seem pathetic to some of you but to me it's awesome. Yes I'm a bit odd too. :) Any who here's chapter 3, it'll start moving along a bit more, hopfully.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Lion King, never will, wish I did though. :) :)

Kudoos!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3

Shalu felt a nudge on his side and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was bright green eyes staring back at him from a dark face. "Talo?" He asked uncertainly.

"Wake up." Talo whispered close to his face.

Shalu slowly looked around him. The rest of the pride was still fast asleep. Near himself and Talo lay Kovu and Kiara, curled up tight, and Simba and Nala. Shalu yawned and let his eyes wander to the cave entrance. His eyes widened.

"The sun's not even up yet!" He complained, looking at his eager brother. "It's still night time!"

"No it's early morning. Come on get up already." Talo poked him hard in the side with a paw.

Shalu sent him a glare. "You couldn't have at least waited until the sun was up? What are we supposed to do anyway? Mama and dad told us to stay in the cave until the rest of the Pride woke up."

Talo rolled his eyes. "Well I'm bored, I need something to do."

"Here's a thought, go back to sleep." Shalu curled up again, turning his back to his brother. Talo narrowed his eyes slightly. He poked his brother again, this time Shalu didn't respond. Talo felt an annoyance creep into his skin as he pounced on his brother, earning a yelp from Shalu.  
"Get…get-off!" Shalu struggled. Talo batted him playfully with a paw and Shalu growled and leapt at his brother, sending his teeth into Talo's leg. Talo yelped, not from pain, for Shalu's teeth didn't penetrate his skin, but from surprise. Shalu yowled as he held on tight to Talo's leg as Talo fell onto his back. Talo bared his teeth into an evil like grin and kicked out with his hind legs, sending Shalu flying. Shalu hit the ground and rolled head over paws until he hit something warm and sturdy.

Slowly he shook his head and looked up, finding himself staring into large, amber eyes. "Shouldn't you two be asleep?" Simba asked him, his voice rumbling in Shalu's ears. Shalu glanced back at Talo who was staring at he ground, not even looking at them. Shalu looked back at his grandfather and tried to smile. All it earned him was a cocked eye.

"We…we were just…playing." Talo finally spoke, his voice shaking slightly, since he barely came halfway up Simba's leg, staring down the larger and much more majestic lion seemed impossible.

However, Simba's mouth twitched slightly, as though he was trying to fight a smile. "Kiara, come deal with your two cubs."

Shalu looked around, surprised to see his mother stand up and come over to him. Kovu was also up, though Shalu could hardly remember a time where Kovu didn't wake up when there was any sort of commotion, big or small. Shalu felt his mother grip his neck, and saw her attempt a grin to her father before following her mate and other son out of the cave.

Kiara placed Shalu beside Talo, and sat down near Kovu. Both parents looked sternly at their cubs. Talo smiled weakly at them. "Morning mom." He told her.

"Just what were you doing?" Kiara asked them.

"Well I was trying to sleep." Shalu muttered.

"I was just bored." Talo shrugged a shoulder and Kovu shot him a look.

"You were bored." Kovu said blandly.

"And I couldn't get to sleep." Talo added.

"And so you thought you would bring the same problem to the rest of the pride? The inability to sleep, I mean." Questioned Kiara.

"It seemed like a good plan at the time." Talo replied. He saw the look his mother gave him and quickly said. "I mean…no?" He answered uncertainly.

Shalu snorted and Talo stepped on his paw hard. After Shalu finished his yelp, and Kiara stopped her meaningful glare in Talo's direction, she spoke. "We told you not to leave the cave when it was still dark-"

"Which we didn't." Talo piped up.

"But we also don't want you disturbing those who are trying to sleep." Kovu finished.

Shalu and Talo hung their heads. "Sorry." They muttered.

Kiara looked at Talo. "Next time, lie there until one of us wakes up, don't wake up your brother or anyone else." Talo slowly nodded. Kiara turned her gaze to Shalu. "And Shalu, don't bite your brother. That's not how future rulers of Pride Rock should behave."

"You're one to talk." Kovu whispered to his mate, who flashed him an angry look, in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. Talo chuckled until Shalu nudged him into silence.

"Do you understand?" Kiara asked of them.

Talo and Shalu nodded together.

"Good." Kovu said, glad to end the scolding of his sons. Kiara shot him an amused look. "Now go in and try to get some more sleep."

"But the sun's practically up!" Talo objected, nodding toward the sky which had faded from black to a dark-pale blue. "And you said you'd show us around the Pride Lands today."

"They run all over the Pride Lands every day you would think they would know it by now." Kiara laughed to her mate. Kovu smiled slightly at his cubs who were watching him with big, hopeful eyes. Is that how I looked when Simba told me he wanted to talk to me? Kovu wondered, the past creeping into his mind. No, he decided, I was scared out of my wits, not excited.

"That's right you did promise! You said you would give us the "Circle of Like" speech like grandfather got when he was a cub, and that he told both you and mom." Shalu added helpfully.

"I said when the sun was up." Reminded Kovu.

Talo rolled his eyes and stopped, staring at the horizon, a grin slid onto his features. "Look! It's the sun."

Kovu looked wearily at the horizon to see the shades of yellow, orange, and red begin to precede the golden sun on it's journey into the sky. "So it is." He murmured.

"It's today dad. Come on! Come on!" Talo and Shalu pleaded jumping around.

Kovu sighed in surrender, wishing he could've gotten more sleep, then smiled. "Okay."

"Yippee!" The two young cubs started to run off and Kovu looked back at the cave where he saw Simba watching him, smiling. Kovu nodded to him and padded off after his children. Kiara stayed and watched until the sun had risen high in the sky.

------------

"…and so we are each connected in the great Circle of Life." Kovu watched his children's expressions as he finished. They had walked for an hour and he had talked for almost that long. His throat was scratchy and he wanted to see if they had paid any attention.

To his certain surprise, they had. Both cubs' eyes were glowing with wonder and excitement. "And we get to rule it all?" Shalu said slowly.

"You and me, together." Talo said nudging Shalu happily. "And our mates, if we ever get them."

Kovu heard this and smiled slightly. They were eager to become King, but which one would? Their couldn't be two Queens and definitely not two Kings. Usually it was the elder of the two, but since they were born so close together, neither Kovu nor Kiara knew which one was older, though Talo was obviously the bigger of the two, that didn't mean much. In any other case it the leadership would go to the male, but since they were both male that didn't work either, and Kovu had yet to see which one would make the better king. Kovu put this pondering aside as he saw a young lioness running to meet them.

"Kovu." The female said stopping in front of him.

"Hi Auntie Vitani." The cubs chorused, then giggled at the rhyme they had made.

"Adorable" Vitani replied sarcastically, smiling at them. Then she looked at Kovu. "Kovu, they're here. They came back."

"Who came back?"

"The hyenas."

Kovu held his breath at the news. The hyenas who had disappeared after the fall of Scar were back! How could they possibly be back? "How do you know this?" He asked, hoping there may be some mistake. Perhaps a monkey had told her, everyone knew they weren't always reliable and could've been mistaken.

"I saw tracks, fresh ones. And when I followed it I found a dead wilder-beast, the smell of hyena was thick around it."

"How many?"

"I don't know. I didn't actually see any of them. Kovu, why do you think they're back?"

"I don't know, but whatever the reason it can't be good." He looked down at his children who were watching him intently. "Vitani, take the cubs and watch them. I'm going to have a look around the Elephant Graveyard."

Vitani raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Kovu? Maybe we should get Simba first. He's a strong fighter."

"And you think I'm not? Besides, I'm not going to fight, I'm just going to look around." Kovu replied.

"That's what you say now. What if…"

"What if nothing. Go." He tried to say it in the best king voice he could muster. Vitani snorted in laughter at her younger brother's attempt and then herded the cubs off.

"Come on little guys," He heard her say. "We don't want you to be here if daddy makes a mistake." Kovu rolled his eyes and ran off in the direction of the Elephant Graveyard.

A silent shadow watched them part. Her yellow eyes followed Kovu for a moment, then turned back to the cubs. As she watched them prance off she smiled, revealing sharp teeth.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's the end of Chapter 3. I hope you guys liked it. Doesn't it seem like Talo is always getting up much too early? That was me when I was younger, and I was always waking up my younger brother, so that bit of the story is based a little after myself (Of course I didn't kick my brother halfway across the cave :) ) Anyway it's summer now so I'll be able to update a lot sooner, and make the story better. Chapter 4 might be out today too, but who knows which way the winds will blow. Review pleeeeease!


	4. Chapter 4

Dun da da da! Chapter 4! I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this one out today, of course my messy room should be what I'm working on, but oh well. So this might seem a tad, well maybe more than a tad, similar to the original Lion King, it's not exactly the same, but you'll just have to trust me.

And a warning...some of you maynot be too happy withme, and my story, for the rest of it's life (and mine) for what's about to happen, trust me I partiallydon't likemyself for it, but like I said before, you'll just have to trust me. :)

Disclaimer: I only own Talo, Shalu, Suaz, Selan, and some other lions in the coming chapters. If you recognize their names then they're not mine.

Kudoos!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4

Talo and Shalu followed slightly behind Vitani, watching their Aunt as she looked around nervously. They'd never seen her this agitated before, even when one of them had gotten hurt. Her eyes glanced left and right, trotting at such a pace that the cubs could hardly keep up. She rarely looked behind her at them, and kept making inaudible noises that she continued making.

"Did you hear what they were talking about?" Talo asked softly, his eyes on the back of Vitani.

"I was standing right there, too." Shalu reminded him, also keeping his voice low.

"Yeah, but did you really hear what they said?" Talo pressed on, glancing over his shoulder.

"'Course I did. Hyenas are back in the Pride Lands." Shalu shivered. "Scary."

"It's an adventure, that's what it is." Talo said. He smiled "Maybe we'll get to fight one…."

"Fight one? You can hardly fight Suaz." Shalu scoffed.

"Liar. I pin her lots of times."

"You couldn't fight them if they went easy on you, which they wouldn't, they're hyenas. Nothing but slobbering mangy stupid poachers."

Talo snickered, then grinned knowingly. "I bet I could beat them."

"Prove it." Shalu dared before he could stop himself

"Okay." Talo watched Vitani for a short time, then leaned closer to his brother. "In a bit we'll drop farther back. Vitani is so concerned about the hyenas, she'll forget about us."

"Vitani was told to watch us…she's not going to forget about us."

Talo sent him a laid back look. "Trust me." He said smoothly.

Shalu rolled his eyes, not thinking it would work, but fell back with his brother just the same.

Slowly they fell farther and farther back, then dodged off in the direction their father had taken.

They stopped at a falling tree, breathing hard. "I-didn't-think-that-would-work." Shalu said in between gasps.

"I knew it would." Talo said, getting his breath back. "I'm a genius."

Shalu looked at him. "You? I don't think so."

"I got us here, didn't I?"

"Where is 'here' anyway?"

Talo looked around. There were trees lying everywhere, dead ones, the grass was fresh, and the dirt was scared black in areas. "This is the area that was burned out by that fire…" Talo stopped and glanced around. "Which means…" He looked off in the direction of a dark patch. "_That's_ the elephant graveyard."

He ran off, Shalu trying to catch up. They reached the edge of the graveyard and stopped short. Staring down it they saw bones littering the floor, and a dark eerie mist covering the pit, preventing most sunlight. "I'm not going down there." Shalu said as a geyser blew and he smelled the steam.

"You scared?"

"No. Just not stupid."

Talo rolled his eyes. "We already got here didn't we? Might as well go down and find us a hyena." He walked down the edge, stumbling slightly.

Shalu ran after him and stopped when they reached the bottom. "Hyena? You still want to fight a hyena?" He demanded, coming up next to Talo

Talo shrugged and kicked a bone lying nearby. "Yeah, why not. They're so stupid it will be easy."

"Stupid. Are we stupid?" a high-pitched female voice broke in. Laughter followed her comment. Talo and Shalu whirled to find themselves face to face withfour very large, very hungry looking hyenas. Two females and two males. Talo gulped and Shalu felt himself shiver.

"I-I-I…" Talo couldn't get any words out. He took a step back and felt Shalu brush up against him.

"Not so talkative now, are we little lion?" One of the males said slyly. The other hyenas chuckled loudly.

"Leave us be." Shalu said softly, his voice shaking. "You're on our Pride Lands."

"_Your_ Pride Lands?" The one of thefemales laughed. "The second you passed from the bright Sahara to the shadow of this graveyard, you left your precious Pride Lands." She bared her teeth and Shalu whimpered.

"You know, it's been ages since I had a good Lion to eat." The secondmale began slowly. The other three nodded in agreement.

Talo took another step back, fear flooding him. He turned his head and saw a tunnel of bones to his left, and no one guarding it.

"I think I'll just have to taste-Hey!" The male broke off as he saw Talo and Shalu run off. Shalu to the right, Talo to the left.

"I got the little one." The male hyena tore after Shalu along withone ofthe females,leaving the two remaining hyenas to rush after Talo.

Shalu heard the panting behind him, but wasn't sure if it was Talo or a hyena. Turning his head he saw the gray face and drooling mouth, Shalu began to run even faster. He dodged left and into a track of bones, skidding slightly. Shalu turned to see if the hyenas were gaining, and tripped, rolling into a pile of bones.

Shalu struggled to get up, but couldn't. The female hyena walked up to him, her face inches away from his. "Yum, yum."

There was a deafening roar and suddenly Kovu was there, tackling the hyena and tearing ather with claws and teeth.The male hyena felt fear freeze his insides as he turned and bolted off. The femalehyena yelped as Kovu's paw connected withher rump. The hyena quickly turned tail and fled. Kovu letthem go and turned to Shalu. His eyes half angry and half relieved.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, his voice shaking with the effort to hold back his anger.

Shalu had never been so scared in his life. He had been chased by a hyena, separated from his brother, almost eaten, and was now facing his angry father, who all of a sudden seemed just as big, if bigger, than even Simba.

"I-I-well we-we were…" His voice faded off as he looked down.

"I told you to go with Vitani! And you disobeyed me." Kovu fought to keep his voice low, but it wasn't working. "If I hadn't come you could've been seriously hurt or killed! Do you understand that Shalu?" Kovu was shaking just as hard, if harder than Shalu. The fear and panic that had flooded his veins when he had caught scent of the cubs in the direction of the Elephant Graveyard slowly began to leave him, but it wasn't leaving fast.

Shalu nodded, tears stinging his eyes. "Yes, daddy."

"Vitani will be worried sick, and your mother too. What were you thinking?"

"Talo wanted to fight a hyena." Coming from his mouth it sounded even more stupid than it had before.

"Fight a hyena? Does he have a death wish? He could've been killed." Kovu growled, half to himself. He saw Shalu shaking and immediately felt guilty. Suddenly Kovu stopped, his heart pounding with fear again. "Where's your brother?" Kovu's voice was soft.

Shalu looked around him, remembering his brother hadn't been with him. "I don't know. I think he went the other way. I heard the hyenas.." The rest of his words faded off as Kovu turned and ran off in the other direction. Shalu took one look around and ran off after him.

------------

Shalu finally, panting, caught up with Kovu who had stopped in a small clearing of bones. Hyena tracks were all around, and Shalu could barely make out the paw prints of a baby lion and an impression in the earth were a cub had lain.

"Talo…" Shalu stepped near the imprint and his nose filled with the stench of hyenas. Kovu was silent. He paced around and climbed up several embankments looking around. There was no blood, but also no Talo. Shalu lay in the dirt where the imprint was. Smells mixed in his nose, ones of a cub, hyenas, and something else he couldn't place, almost like wet leaves. He looked up as his father came back to him. Shalu blinked and felt a tear run down his cheek before he could stop it. Kovu stared down at his son and swallowed hard, a hard pain filling his heart. "Come on, Shalu." He ordered.

Kovu grabbed Shalu in his mouth and made his way back to Pride Rock at a quick pace. He left Shalu to tremble at his grandmother's side, and taking Simba, Kiara, Vitani, and a couple other lionesses, he returned to the Elephant Graveyard.

Shalu was half asleep when they arrived back late in the night. He raised his head and twitched his ears, listening as his father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, and aunt spoke just outside the cave.

"He's asleep. He was trembling all over after you left him Kovu." It was Nala, her voice rich. "He hardly spoke a word."

"He could've died!" This was from Kovu. Shalu heard anger in his voice for the second time that day. "He could've been ripped apart by those hyenas!"

"Shalu or Talo?" Vitani asked in a mild tone.

Kovu was silent and Shalu moved a little closer. "Shalu was almost dead…" Kovu's voice was quieter now, the sadness replacing the anger. "And we've searched all over, there's no sign of Talo."

"We'll find him." Kiara assured her mate. "Don't worry, we'll find him if we have to tear apart every bone in that graveyard."

"How? There's no blood, no scent, and the only tracks are those on the ground around his. Not even a trail to follow." Shalu had never heard his father this hopeless before.

"Don't give up yet." This time it was Simba, his voice strong behind a strange sadness. "We'll find him, or the ones responsible." He murmured.

"What if we can't?" Kovu asked, and another long silence greeted his answer. "What if Talo is dead? Then what do we do?"

"Then we will train Shalu to become king. We still have another son, Kovu, don't ever forget that." Shalu heard his mother reply. His stomach churned uncomfortably and he lay his head down to throw himself into a night filled with dark nightmares.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well that is the end of that rather sad chapter. Hopefully you guys don't hate me too much, and if you do, I'll try to make it up to you. Please review (just don't flame!)

Oh and the line "slobbering mangy stupid poachers" is Zazu's from the original Lion King, so I can't take credit for that line. Anyway please review:) :)


	5. Chapter 5

I've gotten so many hits on this story...it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...well not really but it does make me happy that it seems like some of you are enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying writing it...yes that sounds very corny. Anyway thank you for the review and the tip **.-Golden.Rose-.**, and I feel quite honored that you like mine enough to read it, hopefully this chapter and the rest of the story won't disappoint. :)

Anywho here's chapter 5, I stayed up late last night working on it, so hopefully it works out the way I wanted it too. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the orignal 3 Lion Kings (yes there is three: 1, 2, and 1 1/2 :) ) I do own Shalu, Talo, Suaz, Selan (who's not in it now), Palini, and Lia. I also own the mysterious lion and lioness who"kill"Shalu. Please ask before using.

Kudoos!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5

Shalu stepped out of the cave, trying to remember how long it had been since he had become the only male cub in the cave. Weeks, months, maybe even years, he'd lost count after the first week or so. He made his way to Pride Rock's peak and stood there, feeling the breeze grab at his fur while the sun, perched high in the sky, blazed down on him. A dragonfly hovered in front of his nose and Shalu shook his head, sending his messy red mane every which way. He stopped and it settled back around him, slightly in place and regal looking, though a few red, floppy bangs tickled his forehead. His golden fur reflected the sun's rays, from his nose down to her large paws and long, slim tail. Though his build had began to fill out, he was still barely taller than his father. He still looked like the smaller of two cubs.

Shalu let his amber eyes follow the sun's rays, watching the herds of animals rising up across the Savanna. His gaze followed the land until it fell upon the shadow on the horizon. The Elephant Graveyard. His heart tightened and he turned his eyes away. He hadn't gone anywhere near that place since….

A step behind him made Shalu turn and he saw Simba, regal as ever come up beside him. "It's beautiful, the sun rising in the morning."

Shalu nodded, his mouth dry.

"Sheds light on the darkness that falls over us."

Shalu spoke, his voice slightly deeper than it had been when he was a cub. "Some darkness can't be lit." He replied, heavily.

Simba held in an exhausted sigh. Shalu had always been more serious and subdued than Talo, even though as cubs the difference was slight. But since the day that Talo had been killed, Shalu seemed even more subdued, almost depressed, and apart from the rest of the pride. Even though the young lionesses tried to catch his eye, as Kiara and Kovu hadn't arranged him a marriage, he kept apart from everyone and had even taken to sleeping near the same rock his father once had.

"I felt the same way you do, once." Simba said, looking out on the Savanna. "I thought it was my fault my Father had died, and it took me a long time to realize it wasn't." He glanced at Shalu and saw the younger lion's shoulders sag.

"How do you know it wasn't my fault?" His voice was soft and nervous.

Simba smiled. "Did you drag him to the Elephant Graveyard? Did you send the hyenas after him? Did you abandon him to die?" Shalu tentatively shook his head, a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. Simba kept his silence then nodded out toward the land they were overlooking. "Walking clears the head." With those words, he turned and left. Shalu listened to him pad back into the cave where most of the lions would be starting to move about.

Shalu quietly made his way down the edge of Pride Rock and to the grass below. He padded out of the shadow of the large rock and out into the open Savanna.

Shalu walked past herds of grazing animals and stopped by the water hole. He felt a wind brush his bangs and he narrowed his eyes. "You protected me, didn't you?" He whispered. "Then why didn't you take care of him!" Shalu demanded loudly. "How come you didn't watch him!"

"Shalu?" A soft voice asked from behind.

Shalu spun around and found himself face to face with Suaz. "Suaz….I…." His voice faded off as a blush ran up his cheeks.

"Who were you talking to?" Suaz asked, coming up and sitting next to him. Her body was sleek and lean like the other lionesses. Her eyes still glittered, but without the humor they had once held, and her fur was tan without any blemish.

"Just…" Shalu looked up at the few remaining stars in the early morning sky. "The great kings." He murmured.

"Seeking guidance?" She asked.

"Not really." He replied stiffly.

Suaz looked down at the water. "I miss him too." She whispered.

Shalu looked at her startled. "Wha-"

"Talo." Shalu stopped and watched her. "I miss him too, Shalu. Even if he didn't like to get washed and was always teasing…."

Shalu watched her with a stony face. "Yeah…." He turned away from her. "We all miss him." He began walking off. Suaz stayed where she was, looking into the water.

Shalu left her and passed under a couple low hanging trees, then climbed over some rocks and stopped as he saw his father gazing out across a murky river, toward a barren land. The Outlands. Kovu turned and spotted him. Then motioned for him to come over. Shalu slowly made his way over, not very surprised that his father was out this early. Since Simba and Nala had passed their titles on to Shalu's parents not long ago, Kovu had taken to walking through the Pride Lands on his own, sometimes early and sometimes late at night. Shalu stopped near his father, who had stopped looking at the Outlands.

"Dad, I didn't know you were…" Shalu stopped. He always found it hard to talk to his father nowadays. Of course his father had never blamed him for Talo's death, no one had, but Shalu couldn't help but feel like someone thought he should've done something to keep Talo from going, or at least ran in the same direction. Shalu swallowed and continued. "I didn't know you were out here. What are you doing?"

"I was just remembering the past." Kovu said smiling slightly. It wasn't a happy smile though, it was a sad one, Shalu realized with a pang.

"What about Hakuna Matata?" asked Shalu.

Kovu raised an eyebrow, but the smile stayed. "Easier said than done I'm afraid."

Shalu was silent. His father didn't need to tell him that.

Kovu looked him over. "Where were you going?" he questioned.

"Oh nowhere. Just off around. Walking. Simba says that walking clears the head." Shalu answered quickly.

Kovu nodded. "Okay. Just….be back before nightfall. Okay?"

Shalu nodded, wondering if his father realized it wasn't even mid-morning yet, and watched his father make his way back toward Pride rock. "Back before nightfall." Shalu whispered to himself. Then walked off in another direction.

Shalu's paws led him back past the water hole where he could still make out Suaz standing at the waters edge. He continued on, leaping over a small stream, making his way past the herds of water buffalo, wilder-beast, antelope, and zebra. He saw a meerkat standing on a hill watching him with quick eyes, trying to determine if he was a threat. He passed rhinos running in circles, and the birds soaring in the bright blue sky. Shalu made his way across the dry grass and under the few trees, over the dust, until he came to the gorge.

He stopped at the edge of it, looking around. He twitched his ears. He could almost hear the thundering stampede, the young lion cub's cry for help, the cry of a dying lion, and a weeping son. He could smell the sweat, taste the dust. And, most of all, felt the pain, more than anyone in the pride had, or could have, realized.

Shalu stared down at the empty gorge for what seemed like eternity. It was deserted of any life, and the dust below hadn't been kicked up for years. He sighed, and wished he could lay down and weep as the young lion cub had down there. Except there was a difference, Shalu didn't have a body to weep over. He only had the fact that a body couldn't be found. Who knows, he had often thought to himself, maybe Talo is still alive and one day I'll see him again. But the thought always faded into a wish, a hopeless wish.

A hard breeze blew suddenly in Shalu's face. He blinked surprise. "What?" He asked aloud and began to turn. A body rammed into him and Shalu stumbled backward, lost his footing and fell toward the gorge's floor. He hit small rocks and ledges that stuck out of the rock wall. They crumbled under his weight, only slowing his fall slightly. His claws tried to dig into the rock wall, to slow himself down more or to stop his descent. Hitting a small rock sticking out of the wall dislodged his claws and sent him flying again Shalu tried to grab onto the ledges again, or at least dig his claws into something. Nothing came. He hit the gorge floor hard and lay there limp. He tried to raise his head and nothing happened. His vision slowly began to blacken, but before he fainted he looked at where he had fallen from. There a lion stood, his fur dark, like his mane, and his eyes piercing down at him. Shalu tried to make a noise but fainted before he could.

-----------

The dark lion watched the lion go limp on the floor of the gorge and a crafty smile crossed his face. "He died like Mufasa." He murmured to himself. "How fitting." He turned from the site and made his way back the way Shalu had come. A dark lioness joined him. She was bulky, not lean, and her yellow eyes and pointed features gave her a foreboding appearance.

"Well?" She asked him as they plodded along.

The male lion smiled. "Dead. At the bottom of the gorge."

The female nodded. "Good. We'll send the hyenas to make sure no one finds him." She smirked openly.

They continued on and then the female stopped. Another lioness was running towards them. She was younger than the dark one, and much more agile. She stopped when she was in a few feet of them and stared.

"Who are you?" She demanded, tossing her bangs. Then she stared at the female. She murmured softly, as though she was trying to remember their faces. "You look almost like…but she disappeared ages ago…"

"Funny how things that disappear for years can suddenly come back." The dark lioness said smoothly.

"What do you want here?" The other lioness asked, snapping out of her daze

"We want the Pride." The male lion said. "So if you won't mind moving…?"

The other lioness braced herself. "What are your names?"

"Guess, Vitani." The male said slyly. The lioness started at the use of her name, a confused look on her face, then the male leapt at her, his teeth and claws bared, ready for the kill.

------------

It was dark when Shalu finally opened his eyes again. At first he couldn't believe he actually was opening his eyes, after such a fall as that. But when he did, he realized he wasn't without bruises. He tried to stand and felt a searing pain in his hip. He moaned and then continued to stand up. When he was finally on all fours Shalu looked up at the edge of the gorge. The lion wasn't there anymore. Well of course not, he thought to himself, whoever he was wouldn't wait around until dark.

And who had been that dark lion. His father? Impossible. He might've not been the best son all the time, but he knew his father would never want him dead. Besides, he had already lost one son, why would he want to make it two?

But the question remained to Shalu: Who was the lion who had tried to kill him? And why?

Shalu put the question away, as his head began to pound. He started walking along the gorge, hoping that he was going the right way to exit this trap. He knew he didn't have the strength to climb out, and realized that he had already broken his promise to his father, to be back by nightfall. But was that really his fault?

Shalu continued on, until he heard voices.

"Are you sure you don't see him?"

"Well you didn't find the dead lion either!"

Fear surged his body and he leapt into a small crevice in the gorge wall and waited.

Five black and gray bodies came into view. Hyenas. Shalu shuddered silently and listened.

"The boss is not going to be happy." One of the hyenas said nervously.

"Well the lion is obviously not here." Another one said. "So maybe some other animal got here first."

"Or maybe he's not dead." Yet another one said.

"The boss said he saw him fall and not get up. Do you want to be the one to tell the boss he was wrong?" questioned the first hyena. The third hyena quickly shook his head.

"Come on, we'll look a little more and then go back." The second hyena said, turning to go.

"And if we don't find him?" Asked another hyena.

"Then we tell the boss that no one ever will find him again." The second one said. The group ran off in the opposite direction and disappeared into the darkness.

Shalu stepped out of his hiding place, shivering. So someone did want him dead, and they were working with the hyenas to accomplish it. He turned back to his original path and began running, ignoring his protesting hip. The wind whipped around him but he still kept going. He finally stopped when he reached a small stream. No animals were in sight. Shalu bent down and tasted the cool water. After a long drink he looked up and behind him. That was the way home, but also the way the hyenas were, and if there was one thing that still scared him it was hyenas.

Shalu looked back across the water, toward the desert land that waited on the other side. The desert. It was a place to escape. Besides, he was already dead. Shalu looked back toward Pride Rock. What did they need him for? He wasn't a good fighter, wouldn't be a good ruler no matter what Simba and Kovu did. He couldn't find a mate, and he was sick of seeing the sad look on his mother and father's faces. Every time they looked at him, they were remembering what had happened, no matter how much they tried to hide it. Everyone still missed Talo.

"He would've been the better ruler." Muttered Shalu. "He was stronger anyway. He would've fought those hyenas, he wouldn't be talking to the wind." He looked up at the stars, then looked back down. "They won't care." He persuaded himself. He took a leap and found himself on the other side of the river. Shalu began running into the night, into the desert, without turning to look back.

----------------

Morning had come, and the blazing sun was baking Shalu, who was beginning to sorely regret his decision to venture into the desert. He felt hot all over and his hip felt as though it was about to fall off. The pain seared through him every time he took a step. His throat was dry and his paws were blistered. Shalu took another step and collapsed on the hot dirt. His vision went in and out as he saw a black bird form circling in the bright sky. And then there were two birds.

--------------------

Shalu slowly opened his eyes. The green grass was wet underneath him and the tall trees blocked out the sun. His body felt cool, though his hip was still a little stiff. He stood up and looked around. Flowers, and trees, all sorts of plants he'd never seen before. A stream trickled by him, water spouting up as it hit the rocks. Water, the cool liquid touched Shalu's dry mouth and he felt like he was dreaming. He gulped long and fast at the cool water and when he finally stopped he was gasping for breath.

"You know the water isn't going to run out if you drink it slower." A teasing voice said behind him.

Shalu whirled around, and held in a yelp as his hip reminded him of its pain. Then he stared. Sitting gracefully in front of him was a young lioness, her ears were perfect, as was the rest of her. Her fur was such a light tan that it was practically white. Her eyes were large and green like the grass at her feet. Her paws were small, and her body lean and sleek.

I am dreaming, Shalu thought. He shook his head and tried to get his thinking straight. "Who are you?" He asked.

She cocked an eye at him. "You could be a little more civil when you ask the lion who saved you her name." She informed him.

"You…saved me?" He asked. Then remembering the manners his mother had tried to teach him he said, "Um…thank you."

The lioness shrugged as if it didn't bother her. "The buzzards would have torn you to pieces out in the desert if I hadn't found you." She said smirking at him.

Cocky, Shalu thought to himself. Rude too. "Yeah, well I think I would've been just fine thank you!" He lied to her.

The lioness' eyes flared. "Excuse me? I don't think so. You owe me."

"Owe you?" Shalu asked his temper rising slightly. "Not likely."

The lioness glared. "Who do you think you are, Pride Lander?" She asked hotly.

Shalu returned her glare, barely having time to wonder how she knew he was from the Pride Lands. "Pride Lander? Better that then some…Jungle Cat!"

"Jungle Cat? I saved you butt!" She roared.

"Well I can take care of my butt myself, thank you!" Shalu answered back.

"Yeah I can see that. How'd you mess up your hip? Fall out of a tree?" She teased.

"No!" Shalu yelled back. "I was pushed…."

"Out of a tree?"

"No. Down a gorge. But that's not the point. I'm doing fine."

The lioness snorted with laughter. "You males. All of you think you're so tough don't you."

Shalu turned away from her and began to walk away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" She jumped in front of him. She didn't stand that much shorter than himself.

"I don't know." He replied before he could stop himself.

"You'll get lost if you don't know the jungle." She informed him.

"I think I'd be worse off standing here with you." Shalu replied angrily.

The lioness let it pass. "I'm sorry, I have a bad temper." She looked down as if in thought. "My father keeps telling me I should work on that."

"You're father must be pretty smart." Shalu replied offhandedly, if slightly sarcastic.

The lioness shot him a glare. "Watch it, Pride Lander." She warned. Then looked around her and turned. "Come on."

"Wait a minute." Shalu stopped her. "You were just yelling at me, then you apologize, then insult me again, and now you expect me to go somewhere with you?"

She snorted with laughter. "You need food, and rest if you expect that hip that you're limping on to get any better. Besides, my father would kill me if I didn't bring you home and get you something to eat."

Shalu blinked at her as she started to walk away, he quickly caught up so he was walking shoulder to shoulder with her. "How did you know I was from the Pride Lands?" He asked.

The lioness shrugged. "You're obviously not from the jungle, and nothing can live in the desert. So you must be from the Pride Lands."

"Lucky guess." Shalu muttered to himself. They walked a little further in silence. "My name is Shalu." He ventured, attempting to amend whatever fight they'd had before, because as rude as she might've been earlier, Shalu had to admit she was pretty.

The lioness sent him an amused look and trotted further ahead. Shalu was about to tell her exactly what he thought of her when she turned around and grinned at him. "Lia."

Shalu smiled slightly and forced himself to keep up.

-----------

Lia led him around and through the jungle until Shalu was dizzy. His mouth was dry again, his stomach was hungry, and to top it off his hip felt worse than it had before. Lia finally stopped in a small clearing in front of a cave and wall of rocks. Shalu shivered a little, remembering his recent fall off the gorge, but then started to take in the site. The clearing was not only around rocks, but also flowers, hundreds of them bursting out of the trees and green ground. Every color Shalu had ever seen, and many he hadn't. The threes made a canopy over the clearing, letting in small shards of sunlight to dance along the ground. Shalu gaped at the sight.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lia asked him, smiling knowingly.

"The most beautiful think I've ever seen." He told her, as she started to walk away he added softly, watching her with amber eyes, "At least in the past couple seconds."

Lia left him standing there and ran to the mouth of the cave where Shalu realized another lion stood.

He was older, much older than Shalu and probably older than Kovu, maybe even Simba. His mane was dark and streaked with silver to show his age. His body was still large and tough, though his fur was rougher and more out of place. His paws where huge and his eyes were dark like an abyss. He listened to Lia for a moment then turned to Shalu.

Shalu started when the dark eyes met his. He lowered his eyes immediately and stared at the ground between his paws. He wished he could lie down, or even run away, but his hip, and his pride, wouldn't allow it. He finally raised his head and found the older lion had made his way to stand close to Shalu. Lia sat down beside the older lion and gave Shalu a small smile.

"Lia tells me you're from the Pride Lands." The older lion's voice was deep and warm. Shalu felt his body relax a little. He nodded. "And your name is…"

"Shalu." He answered softly.

"Shalu. That name seems familiar." The older lion fixed him with a look. Shalu stayed silent, waiting. "Your hip?" asked the lion, nodding at Shalu.

Shalu glanced at his hip. Scratches had branded his body and, beneath the fur, bruises. But the hip looked as normal as it had before the fall.

"I…fell." Shalu muttered.

The older lion looked at it for a moment, then turned back to Shalu's eyes. "Rest is what you need. And good food, then you'll be good as new."

I hope so, thought Shalu.

"Lia, show him a place in the cave. I'm going to look for food." The older lion disappeared into the undergrowth.

Shalu followed Lia into the cave. It was at most half the size of Pride Rock's cave. Shalu couldn't imagine how a whole pride could fit into the small space. Lia led him to a place near the back of the cave and Shalu gingerly lay down. Lia sat down beside him and watched as Shalu rested his head on his paws.

"So you have a small pride?" He asked as he fought sleep, as many times as he had fainted in the past day or so, he was exhausted.

Lia shook her head. "No. It's just me and Palini. We've never had a pride."

"Oh. So he's your mate then?" Shalu said, holding back the disappointment he felt, then at once felt embarrassed.

Lia held back a laugh. "No. Palini is my father. I don't have a mate." She smiled at Shalu.

"Oh." Shalu said simply.

"And you. Do you have a mate?" Lia questioned, watching his eyes slowly close.

"No." Shalu murmured. "I never met a lioness I'd want to mate with."

"Too bad." Lia said. Then realized that Shalu had fallen asleep and she quietly left the cave.

Outside Lia stretched and smiled as she saw Palini coming back through the trees. "Papa." She told him, running up and nuzzling him. "What do you think of Shalu?" She asked.

Palini smiled, his dark wise eyes bright. "He's very young, and very confused. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Lia shrugged as she sat down beside her father. "He's different. I've never met a Pride Lander before." She looked at Palini. "I found him the desert nearly dead, and he told me he'd been pushed down a gorge. Do you think he's running away from something?"

Palini smiled. "Aren't we all?"

Lia watched a butterfly fly past her nose. "He just seems scared and confused. Who would want to push him into a gorge? And who is he really?"

"I don't know, sweet." Palini said sadly. "I haven't been to the Pride Lands since Kiara was presented to the animals. I don't know what has been happening these last years. You'll just have to wait and ask him."

Lia scowled. "I hate waiting." She moaned. Palini laughed and licked her ear, then walked off back to the cave. Before he disappeared into the cave with the small animal he'd caught he turned back to Lia.

"Don't press him, Lia. Lions who are pressed for information only throw up more defenses." Lia cocked an eye at him and he went into the cave. Lia stayed where she was, listening to the voices of the jungle.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yay chapter 5 is out there and done! I like that chapter, if only cause I got to write about Lia and Shalu arguing, it's fun. Anyway to clarify a bit, it's been awhile since the last chapter (like in the story awhile :) ) Since I don't really know how lions age, in real life or in the movie, I'm not saying exactly how long has passed. For now just assume that Shalu would be like 21 or 22, something like that, in human years if he was human. About the age I guess that Kiara and Kovu are through most of the second movie...I dunno if that clarifies things, actually it might not have needed clarifying, but I just thought I'd let you know.

This is also a little warning, there are going to be some more deaths, mainly because the evil plotter (which will not be named at this time ;) ) is trying to get ride of anyone who might cause him/her problems. So feel free to hate me, but I can now say I've warned you.

Also, the "I hate waiting" line is from another movie, the Princess Bride, actually. So I can't really claim that line, only the situation under which it is used.

So please review you guys! I'm working on Chapter 6 but it might be a short while, since I'm in the middle of a serious headache and my weekend is pretty full. So until next time. :) :)


	6. Chapter 6

Well I finally got this chapter out and done...I don't think it's the best chapter but we'll just have to see. Sorry it took me awhile, well awhile for me. I just couldn't sit my lazy butt down and write it. :)

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine, everything else is...that's pretty self-explainitory...don't you think?

Kudoos!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6

Shalu stretched and walked out of the cave, relishing the warm sunlight that touched his nose. He opened his mouth wide and let out a loud yawn before looking around the clearing. His eyes came to rest on Lia, who sat near a clump of blue flowers, licking her front paw. She stopped in mid-lick to meet his eyes and dropped her paw to the ground. Shalu felt something hard stop in his throat as her green eyes met his. He swallowed to relieve himself of the uneasiness.

"You decided to wake up." She smirked at him.

"It happens every so often." He told her. She grinned in amusement and Shalu smiled back at her. "Where's your father?" He questioned.

Lia nodded her head to one of the paths that lead out of the clearing. "Off walking. He goes off by himself a lot and does that." She smiled at him. "You'll just have to deal with me until he gets back."

Shalu considered the idea as she watched him. "Besides," She continued. "It's not like you have anywhere to go."

Shalu blinked at her. "Oh, and why do you think that?"

"Know that." Lia corrected, smiling at him. "You just came from the Pride Lands, where they obviously didn't want you since someone was trying to kill you." Shalu felt a sting at her words. "You can't go into the desert, there's no food or water and you'll become some buzzards breakfast. And you don't know your way around the jungle yet, so you can't go roaming all over it." Lia continued.

"Maybe I'd prefer to be some buzzard's breakfast rather than sit here talking to you." He was still smarting from her earlier words. "And besides, you said I didn't know the jungle yet, what makes you think I'm going to stick around long enough to learn it?"

Lia cocked an eye at him. "Do you want me to name all those reasons again?" She asked smartly.

"No thank you!" Shalu snapped at her, his mind spinning. Somehow she always managed to fire his temper somehow, a temper he hadn't even thought he had.

"Why was someone trying to kill you?" Lia suddenly asked. "That's the reason you can't go back to the Pride Lands. Why would someone want to you dead? You don't look like you could be much of a threat."

Shalu was halfway through trying to figure out whether she had just insulted him or not when she added. "You must have made someone very mad, or madder than you would normally make them."

Shalu quickly came to the conclusion that that time she had indeed insulted him. "I don't know why anyone would want to kill me, and if I did I wouldn't tell you. That is none of your business."

Lia wrinkled her nose at him. "Well you could be a little nicer, I was just asking."

"Prying was what you were doing." He told her angrily. "So stop it already. I'm not going to tell you. It doesn't matter anymore anyway, as far as I, or anyone in the Pride Lands, is concerned who I was before is dead." He started to turn away.

"You sure have a depressing outlook on that." Lia's voice drifted over. Shalu rolled his eyes and looked at her.

"I'm glad you see it fit to share your view on the matter." He replied sarcastically. "But if you don't mind, I'm going."

"Where are you running off to?" Lia's voice stopped him. Shalu turned and looked at her.

"Anywhere but here." Shalu replied.

Lia snorted at him and Shalu glared at her. "You'll get lost before you go five feet." She informed him.

"I'll figure it out."

"Why don't I come with you and show you." It wasn't a suggestion, it was practically an order.

"Why don't you butt out?" Shalu asked her spitefully. Didn't she realize he wanted to walk around on his own? Sitting here arguing with her was really making him exhausted, and it didn't help that she was breathtakingly beautiful. Why couldn't some nicer lioness have gotten her looks, wondered Shalu. It would make arguing with her much easier, without half the time worrying about avoiding her pretty eyes, so as not to get lost in them.

The pretty eyes were now glaring daggers at him. "I saved your life." She reminded him. "At least you could tell me who you were before."

"I already said thank you." Shalu returned the glare. "Now leave me be!" He turned and left. Lia sniffed loudly and stalked into the cave.

----------------------

After bumbling around the jungle for what seemed like hours, finding himself in the same mud hole twice, running into a low hanging branch, and disrupting a fire ant hill, Shalu managed to break through the trees and come upon a huge open field. As far as he could see, he couldn't see any trees, a hill or two, all with green, wet grass. In front of him, bordered by long ferns, sat a large lake. It glittered in the sun that was perched in the sky, reflecting the sky in perfect detail. Shalu glanced once at the jungle behind him and then trotted up to the lake. He bent his head to take a drink and stopped.

His red mane looked slightly rumpled in the reflection, his eyes downcast. Shalu blew a gust of breath, slightly shaking the bangs. He sat down and stared at his reflection. His appearance, from his fur, to his mane, to his eye color, had always mirrored Simba's, though he'd been told his fur was so golden that it looked like Mufasa's. Certainly his messy mane wasn't even close in regal comparison to the Great King, maybe not even to Simba's. True he had muscle, and had grown, but Lia was right: He didn't look as if he could be a threat to anyone. He certainly didn't look as a future king should. "It's a good thing I won't become king." He muttered to himself. "How would I defend the pride looking this pathetic?" He could just imagine how Talo would've looked. His black mane full and regal, his dark fur perfectly smooth on his large body, his muscles rippling under his skin, huge paws pressing into the earth, eyes greener than Lia's, and sparkling with untold mischief.

That's right, an inner voice told him, keep comparing yourself to your brother, even though you know the two of you were like the sun and moon.

"The sun and moon." Muttered Shalu.

"Yes this is the best place to see those two cosmic beings." A deep voice rumbled into his thoughts. Shalu turned his head quickly and his eyes settled on Palini, walking up to him. "The stars are also quite lovely out here at night." The old lion added, smiling and sitting down beside Shalu.

"I wasn't-never mind." Shalu let the comment die on his lips.

Palini looked at him questionably, but whatever he thought stayed hidden behind his dark eyes. "Why are you out walking on your own?"

Shalu smiled slightly. "Someone once told me that walking clears the head." Shalu looked at the older lion. "So far, though, it only seems to bring trouble."

Palini shrugged his large shoulders. "Sometimes trouble isn't as bad as it first appears. Every bad moment comes with a hundred good ones as a result. It makes life worth it, to fight against failure, and then revel in success."

Shalu didn't think what he said made any sense, or pertained to his life at all. "What if the bad moment prevents you from ever having any more good moments?" Shalu asked, not putting much faith in the coming answer.

Palini smiled knowingly. "Sometimes, death in itself is bad, but it's result on those close to the victim, how they must gain strength and fight, is the good that comes of it."

Shalu shook his head. "Nothing good can come from death. Just more pain."

"Doesn't it impress you how people can speak so truthfully and sure about something only when that very thing has affected them?" Palini replied, not looking hurt at all the Shalu didn't rest any consolation on his words. Palini then smiled warmly at him and got up, preparing to leave. As the lion began to make his way back toward the jungle Shalu had a fleeting thought.

"Hey!" Palini continued on, not hearing Shalu's call. "Hey!" Shalu repeated as he ran toward the jungle. Palini's form disappeared into the brush. Shalu ran after him, breath hard and calling out to the older lion. Shalu stopped and looked around him, green trees and bushes rose up around him, all looking like their neighbor plants.

"Great. Perfect." Shalu muttered angrily. "Now I'm lost." Lia's laughing green eyes came to his mind and Shalu groaned again. He began walking forward, trying to tell if any of the brush was crushed, or any scent of Palini was evident among the plants. Shalu's growling stomach reminded him that it was late in the morning and he hadn't had breakfast, much less lunch. Shalu finally stopped. "This is hopeless and pointless." He said aloud. "I can't find a trail, or a scent, or any sign of life!" He yelled out to the silent jungle."

The wind brushed by his face and Shalu sneezed. "Go away." He muttered. The breeze blasted him full in the face and Shalu backed up a step. "Okay, okay I'm sorry!" Shalu said loudly. The wind pressed against his left side, blowing his mane right. Shalu looked to his right shoulder and saw a dark trail-like opening in the trees. The breeze ruffled the trees, creating even longer and darker shadows in the jungle.

"No way!" Shalu said, blinking at the path chosen for him, that looked anything but appealing. "I refuse. I absolutely, positively-" The breeze hit him again in the face. "Are you crazy?" Shalu yelled to the sky. The breeze ruffled his face fur and Shalu rolled his eyes as he looked back at the path. "Apparently so am I." He mumbled as he stepped into the overhang of trees.

----------

Shalu shut his eyes slightly as he crashed through more low hanging limbs and tall brush. The path was even worse than it looked. Besides the creepy appearance, there was all sorts of plants that were thick and more pointed than anything he'd ever encountered before. Shalu yelped and fell through a bush, landing hard in the dirt and…

Right in the clearing outside the cave. Shalu blinked and looked over his shoulder at the bumbling path he'd made in the jungle. He glanced up at the sky. "I bet you thought that was really funny." He said to the clouds.

"Just who are you talking to?" a feminine voice asked him. Shalu sat up quickly, trying to brush out any brambles that had caught in his fur. Lia was descending an embankment that seemed to crawl up the side of the cave and out of sight. She jumped down the last part of the path and stood in front of him.

"Who were you talking to?" She repeated, curiously.

"Just….just the Great Kings." He told her shortly

Lia raised an eyebrow. "Rrright." She said, turning and walking toward a large growth of trees.

"Hey, where are you going?" Shalu asked her.

"Hunting." She replied, just as shortly as he had. And with that she disappeared into the cover of the trees. Shalu blinked at her exit, part of him wanting to follow her. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, he would eventually need her to show him around the jungle. She had been right when she said there was nowhere else for him to go, there was death in the Pride Lands, and death in the desert. Here at least he could survive…as long as he didn't get lost too many times.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes the ending is corny...but i like corny endings so you all will have to deal. Sorry it's short(er), and my next chapter will be much better. The people(lions) at Pride Rock will be coming back into the picture, don't fear. Oh, thank you very much to my reviewers (most of them new ones which was quite exciting). I don't know if I'll get a chance to work on the next chapter tonight...since I'm going out with my friend and mom to buy the "Wicked" soundtrack and this really cool book called "Once Upon A Stilettos", so I don't know about timing...but I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. Please read and review...again :) :)


	7. Chapter 7

So after a three day camping trip and a week in florida...I returned with multiple reviews...so thank you very much**soarineaglewings** for your reviews...made my day truly :) Anyway I intended to get this chapter out sooner...but I wrote it and rewrote and rewrote...it wasn't right the first time. Finally I think I've got it right...so here you go..hope you enjoy (and don't hate me) **Warning: There is more death in this chapter...some lions very close to my heart in fact...sniff...**

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognize from Lion King 1, 2, or 1 1/2...even thought those are basically the same characters... :)

Kudoos!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7

Shalu sniffed at a purple flower near the cave. At once he sneezed the flower shivered. Shalu left the flower and began walking, running, and jumping, testing his hip. It had felt fine after a few days rest and a good meal or two. And now after a couple weeks of being in the jungle he felt more alive than he ever had, he was even beginning to learn his way around, with a little assistance on Lia and Palini's part. Shalu saw a grasshopper settling on a leaf. He lowered himself and buckled his body, then leapt and landed on a bare leaf. As he heard Lia's laughter he saw the grasshopper hop gracefully back to the undergrowth.

"You're terrible." Lia told him as he stood up and shook himself. He looked over at her, and saw Lia once again descending the small hill on the side of the cave. She always seemed to be up there, every time he looked she was either climbing it or descending it. Shalu's curiosity had been perked since the first time he'd seen her up there. What could be up there?

"No I'm not." Shalu snapped, bringing his mind back full circle. "Just not…the best." Lia laughed again and Shalu frowned. "And I suppose you're better?"

Lia fixed him with a look. "Where do you think the food you've been eating came from?" Shalu was silent and Lia sighed. "Can you do anything besides make a fool of yourself?"

Shalu was sure that if his face wasn't covered in golden fur, a red blush would've colored his face. Without waiting for a reply, as she often did, Lia walked off, leaving him alone in the clearing. Shalu fumed at her retreating form. He hated her having the last word. Shalu glanced at the embankment where she had come from earlier. A small smirk appeared on his face. She wasn't around, so why not find out what was so special up the embankment. Shalu looked over his shoulder where Lia had gone, then went over to the embankment.

There was a small, worn path that crept up the side of the cave. Shalu jumped up onto the path and pushed past the leaves and branches that hung in the way. He slowly ascended the path, weaving around trees, trying to watch his paws and the path. He shoved his way through some branches and broke out into an open area. He looked around and found himself standing on a large rock, an extension of the cave, he guessed. From where he was standing all he could see was blue. Shalu felt a small fear rise in his throat, but pushed it down as he stepped carefully on the large rocks. He walked slowly until he reached near the edge and he stopped. Shalu's mouth dried and his felt his eyes widen at the sight. The rock had somehow managed to set itself higher than any of the trees in the jungle. Shalu looked around, the tops of the trees seemingly barely under his paws. The blue sky met the horizon in red and orange mists, reflected from the sun. Shalu, his mouth slightly agape, turned his head and saw a brownish haze on one side of the horizon. The desert. Shalu blinked and stared at the sight, barely believing it.

"Enjoying the beauty?" A soft voice asked from behind him. Shalu almost turned quickly, but remembered how close to the edge he was and checked himself. Lia stepped gracefully up beside him and gazed at the sight. Shalu quickly closed his mouth.

"Um….well I…"

"It's my favorite place in the entire jungle." Lia went on, as though he hadn't spoken at all. "It's funny really. I've lived here my entire life, and been over almost every inch of the jungle, and this place is still the most beautiful."

Shalu looked back over the sight, realizing how right she was. Beauty, how long had it been since he'd stood and looked out and saw something this spectacular. "It is amazing."

Lia looked at him. "What are you doing up here?" She asked.

Shalu pulled his eyes away from sight. "I…I was curious. I wanted to know what you did up here…what was so special."

A smile tugged at Lia's mouth, though she tried to hide it Shalu saw it and relaxed. "And do you see it now?"

Shalu looked out again. "Yeah….it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…." He looked at her. "Do you just sit and stare at it?"

Lia cocked an eye. "You say that like it's a bad thing. How can watching this be bad?" She sighed. "Yes…I sit and stare at it. It reminds me of what a paradise this place is. Why I'd never want to leave."

Shalu looked quickly at her. "Never leave?" He asked, surprised.

Lia shook her head, smiling sadly. "No. It's too…wonderful here." She caught Shalu staring at her and smiled brightly at him. "Well…maybe one day. If a friend was in trouble….if there was enough reason to go. Then I would leave."

Shalu looked down, staring at his paws. She would never leave. Well what did it matter anyway? He wasn't ever going to leave either, there was no reason to, and besides she was right, it was paradise.

Lia caught him in thought, his eyes far-off and deep in an emotion she couldn't read. An uneasy feeling filled her heart, and she shook her head, trying to get rid of it. "Shalu?" He looked up at her, the look in his eyes disappeared as though it had never existed. "Come on." She turned and trotted to the path and trees.

"Where?" Shalu asked, turning.

Lia smiled at him over her shoulder. "You need to refresh your hunting abilities." She pranced off and Shalu stood there. With one last look over his shoulder, he quickly followed Lia down the path, leaving the perfect scene.

-----------------

Shalu gulped down water as Lia pranced behind him. Pouncing lessons. He hadn't had them since he was a cub, and he had to admit he preferred it then. Then he hadn't had a young lioness deliberately interrupting his concentration just to "test him" or telling him what he was allegedly doing wrong. Lia nudged him in the shoulder as she came up to get a drink, the grin still on her face. Shalu rolled his eyes at the memory of her jumping out of where he though he had tracked a bird. His heart had missed about five beats.

Lia licked her lips after tasting the sweet water of the lake. "Ready for more practice?" She asked slyly.

"With you? Not likely in a hundred lifetimes." He responded.

"What are you? A wimpy cub?" Lia asked. Shalu flinched slightly, even though he knew she was teasing. In the past hours he'd realized that a lot of what she said was empty with no meaning, at least the parts meant to sound mean. But he still felt pangs of guilt or sadness at her phrasing of certain "insults".

Lia glanced at him, realizing that he wouldn't change his mind, and sighed. "Okay…no more hunting exercises today."

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'never'." Shalu replied grinning at her. Lia rolled her eyes.

"Don't get too carried away Pride-Lander." Shalu made a face at the name that she had taken to calling him.

"I'm not a Pride-Lander anymore." Shalu said, slightly coldly.

Lia blinked at him. "You can leave the Pride Lands…but you're still a Pride-Lander at heart."

Still a Prince? Wondered Shalu.

He lay down in the grass, letting the dew tickle his fur. He blew at the strands of grass, shaking them with a breath.

Lia lay down near him on her back, her paws curled up close to her belly, her eyes half closed. Shalu watched her and let a small smile creep across his features. Lia opened an eye and looked at him.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." He averted his eyes, his face masked in thought. "Lia?"

"Hmm?" She had closed her eyes again.

"If you don't mind me asking….what happened to the rest of your pride? To your mother?" Shalu asked uncertainly.

Lia's eyes slowly opened and she rolled on her side to look at him. An uneasy smile appeared on her lips. "I thought you didn't approve of prying into someone else's business?'

Shalu felt his face warm. "Sorry. I was just-"

"She died." Lia broke in. Shalu looked at her, startled. Lia was gazing at the ground, lost in thought.

"I don't know how….it happened when I was really young. Dad never talked about it." She went on slowly.

"I'm…sorry." Murmured Shalu.

"I never really knew her….I wish I did." She was silent for a moment. "The pride left not long after. I don't remember the real reason. Something like dad was too old fashioned for them, too old in general to be leading the pride, and with his mate gone and a young cub….I guess they just got tired of him…of us." Lia sighed and smiled sadly. "Dad said they weren't worth it if they just left an old lion and his daughter. We don't know where they went…through the jungle I suppose."

"To the Pride Lands?"

"No, the other direction, deeper into the jungle, past where I've been before." Lia looked at him. "We don't really know what happened to them. They could be dead for all I know." She cocked her head. "What about you? Don't you have some secret that you can tell me? Now that I've told you my past."

Shalu cast her an unsure look. "I had a brother."

Lia snorted. "That's not very interesting at all."

"He was murdered when we were cubs." Shalu broke in.

Lia stopped, her eyes widening with surprise. "What?"

Shalu stared at nothing, trying with all his might not to meet her green eyes. "When we were cubs we were always going out and exploring. One day we heard there were hyenas in the Pride Lands. Talo wanted to find one and fight it. He was much braver than I was." Shalu muttered to himself.

"Stupid too." Lia said roughly, then winced. "I mean…how could a cub think to fight a hyena and live?"

Shalu smiled without humor. "I don't know. I guess it seemed like a fun idea…to him at least. We got down to the Elephant Graveyard and were cornered by hyenas. When we ran for it Talo went one way and I went another. We never found him." Shalu's throat felt like it had tightened.

"Oh Shalu I'm so sorry." Lia's voice was full of concern, and when Shalu met her eyes he could see her sympathy was real.

"It's okay….it was a long time ago." Shalu told her softly. "A very long time ago…in a different life, a different time."

Lia swallowed, wondering how to react. She new somewhat how Shalu felt, having lost her mother. But she hadn't witnessed it, it hadn't been in the cave they lived in now. It had been somewhere else that she didn't remember. The look in Shalu's eyes told her that he remembered his brother's death everyday, vividly too.

"Did you ever blame yourself?" Shalu asked her. "For your mother's death? Or the pride leaving."

Lia shook her head. "No. Dad always told me it wasn't and I believed him. Why should I put myself through that pain if there wasn't anything I could've done? I couldn't have stopped her from dying anymore than I could've kept the pride here."

I could've stopped him, thought Shalu to himself. I could've prevented him from going there and dying. Shalu sighed.

Lia looked him over. "There's more, isn't there?" Shalu sent her a questioning look. "More to your past than just your brother dying." Shalu averted his eyes. "Why won't you tell me?" Silence greeted her and Lia sighed in defeat. "Come on Pride-Lander…we need to find something for dinner." She turned and led the way deeper into the jungle.

"Lia." Shalu said after a short while.

"What?" She asked without looking at him.

"I'll tell you. One day I'll tell you everything." He promised softly.

Lia nodded, careful to keep the smile on her face hidden from his view.

-----------------

Simba walked slowly across the Savannah. The wind blew around him and the scent of many animals flooded his senses. A sadness cloaked the old lion like a blanket. He had lost so much in a short period of time, but he felt worse of Kovu and Kiara, who had lost so much more. First one cub, and then yet another, though no one could find anything except paw prints at the edge of the gorge and Shalu's scent hovering around the scene. Finding Vitani's body that same day was heart wrenching to them, especially Kovu. Simba sighed, Kovu had not been the same, and there was nothing that could be done about it, each lion must find his or her own way to grieve.

Simba raised his head as he saw Nala coming up to him. A small smile was on her face, though as she came closer he noticed that her smile was filled with sadness.

"Simba, what are you doing out here?" She asked, nudging his head affectionately.

"Thinking." He answered. He stared across the plains and could just make out a dark lion under a tree, his head down. "Kovu." He whispered sadly, and began to plod away.

Nala followed him, and as they walked she spoke again. "I worry about Kovu and Kiara." She said slowly. Simba was silent as they walked around dead trees, leading them further from Pride Rock.

"They are good rulers, Nala. Give them a chance to adapt." Simba replied.

Nala shook her head. "How can they rule with so much sadness encircling them? They've lost two sons, and Kovu has lost a sister, the last family he had."

"He has us, and the Pride for family."

"Simba."

Simba sighed. "They'll find strength. It's what all lions do when faced with tragedy."

"Or they run to the jungle." Nala said offhandedly, looking at Simba out of the corner of her eye.

"Very funny, I thought we were being serious."

"Who said I wasn't being serious?" Nala asked him. Then she sighed. "I want to make it better. I want their pain to go away."

Simba stopped and nuzzled her head. Nala sat down and settled her head in his thick mane. "The only way do make it better would be to bring Talo, Shalu, and Vitani back from the dead. And you know that is impossible."

"Or we find the one responsible for their murders and make whoever it is pay dearly." Spat Nala. Simba looked at her surprised and found tears running down her cheeks. He rubbed her ears.

"Shh. It's okay."

Nala shook her head. "We're old Simba, how do we know that last night was out last sunset? We need to be here for Kovu and Kiara but there is no guarantee we can."

Simba was silent. That was a fear that had been pressing into his heart ever since Shalu had disappeared and Vitani had been killed. "We'll just have to do what we can while we breath, and then use the stars to guide them when we aren't here anymore."

Nala nodded slowly and then stiffened. A scent had reached her nose. One so old, though so familiar. Simba lifted his head, the thick smell was threading toward him. He looked down at her and Nala locked eyes with him, and understanding passing between them. They knew who it was. "Nala. Get back to Pride Rock."

Nala shook her head. "No. I can't. I'm not leaving you."

"Nala now!" He dropped his voice. "I lost two grandsons to hyenas, I'm not going to lose you too."

"I can handle hyenas." She replied. Then her voice caught as she saw what looked like a gray cloud on the ground threading towards them from three sides. They were slowly being surrounded. Nala pressed close to Simba.

"Nala….go! Go and warn them."

Nala turned and began to run toward Pride Rock. She stopped short and looked at Simba. "Simba…."

He looked at her, his amber eyes were on fire. "I know. I love you."

Nala turned and ran her breath catching in her throat. She heard a roar from Simba and stopped. No, she thought to herself. She glanced and saw a bird sitting nearby.

"You!" She yelled to it. Startled it stared at her. Nala's ears heard a growl filled with pain and quickly looked at the bird. "Go to Pride Rock. Bring King Kovu and Queen Kiara here. Tell them hyenas are in the Pride Lands…tell them…." Another pained growl. "Tell them Nala and Simba are taking care of…taking care of it." The bird nodded and flapped off.

Nala whirled and ran back to where Simba was, hoping that the bird would do as he had been ordered. When she crested the hill she'd left behind she was met by a pack of hyenas. She saw Simba fending some of them off, she saw the bodies of the hyenas who had already fallen victim to Simba's rage. "Simba!" She yelled and ran toward the fray. She batted a hyena out of her way and tore at another. She heard a snarl, then felt a sharp pain in her hip. Nala growled and whirled, facing another hyena. "Face me, murderer." She snarled. "I dare you!"

----------------

Shalu's eyes snapped open, his head rose and he had to fight himself from jumping up. Something was wrong, he could feel it. It was as though a bolt of lightning had run it's course from one end of his body to the other and taken something away from him. Shalu shook his head and blinked multiple times. He glanced around the cave and saw Lia curled up nearby, half on her back, her paw twitched slightly. Palini lay next to her, his mane falling around his shoulders. Shalu felt his legs shaking and slowly stood up. He walked out of the cave an into the dimly lit clearing. The fresh air filled his nose and mouth, and he slowly relaxed.

"Shalu?" He turned and saw Lia standing at the edge of the cave, blinking sleep out of her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Bad dream." Shalu said as lightly as he could.

Lia frowned at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…fine, just fine." He told her. She gave him a look over, then look like she decided that it wasn't worth the headache, and turned to go.

"Did I wake you up?" Shalu asked, unsure.

She looked at him. "No…at least I don't think you did." Lia assured him. She stepped back into the cave and then glanced at him again. "Are you coming?"

"I think I'll just sit…and well just sit." Lia nodded, though her face was worried and she went back to bed.

Shalu let out a breath. His heart was squeezing in his chest and he looked up at the stars. "Was that a dream?" He asked to no one. The sky was silent in response. Shalu shook his head and turned back to the cave. As he returned to his bed, the creatures of the jungle snuggled closer in their own dreams. The wind brushed through the leaves and two stars up in the black sky blinked brightly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so, after hours of listening to "Wicked" (which is the awesomest soundtrack!), and staying up late just to undo what I did the night before...Chapter 7 is done! Sadly so is Simba and Nala...tear...well many tears. I hope you don't hate me too much for that... Anyway I'll try and get the next chapter to you as soon as I can...it's already half written...but I won't be able to finish it tonight...4th of July don't ya know. Anywho please review! I'd beg except as they say in "Peter Pan"..."Gentleman don't beg" or in this case "Ladies"...hehe anyway please review. Thanks.:) :)


	8. Chapter 8

Hey I'm pretty proud of myself for updating so soon..hehe. Anyway thank you for the reviews **soarineaglewings** and **The Ligerion Emperor** (and yes those mangy stupid poachers will get their well deserved death...some of them already have...you don't think I'd let Simba and Nala go out without taking some slimey villians with them do you? I'm not that horrible :) ) So this is chapter 8...sadly getting towards the end of the story, there will only be like 2-3 more chapters after this..but I am in the process of planning a sequal if people like this one enough...heck I might write the sequal just cause I feel like it. Anyway enjoy this chapter...you'll get to see some Kovu and Kiara and also some bickering between the two evil heads of the sinister plot :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognize. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Kudoos.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8

When Lia broke through the brush at the top of the rocks days later she was only half surprised to find Shalu sitting at the edge, staring out at nothing. Lia shook her head in a silent joke and then stepped closer to the other lion.

"Does the view change that much every day?" She asked.

Shalu looked at her a grinned slightly. "It has it's moments." He teased back. Lia's eyebrows raised in amusement and she sat down beside him.

"I used to come up here to get away from everyone else." She glanced at him. "Especially you when you first came here. It was the only place to get away from you."

Shalu rolled his eyes. "When I first came here I didn't know my way around the jungle, you could've gone anywhere you wanted." He reminded her.

Lia laughed. "True. But you learn fast." Shalu shrugged in response. "You like it that much?" Lia asked him as he watched the jungle.

"Reminds me of home." Shalu answered softly.

"Do you miss your home?" Lia asked.

Shalu glanced at her. "You like to pry a lot don't you."

Lia's temper rose slightly. "I was just asking." She flared.

Shalu didn't answer. Lia let out an exasperated sigh and turned. "Don't you trust us?" She asked the ground.

Shalu started slightly and Lia sighed. "Never mind." She shook her head. They stood like that, silence stretching across between them.

Shalu blew wind from his nose in an aggravated fashion, hoping Lia didn't notice. Yes I do miss home, he said to himself. I miss it and mom and dad. I miss Gandfather and Grandmother, and Vitani and I still miss Talo. But I'm scared and can't go back, I'm scared what they'll think of me. They'll think me a coward. Besides this is my home now, so I shouldn't miss Pride Rock. Shalu concluded to himself. But he still did.

Lia let her mind whirl. Shalu was so…different. One moment she thought she had him figured out and the next he closed himself off to her. He'd told her about his brother, but Lia still felt like he wasn't telling her everything. Lia's heart pulled and she winced. She wished he did trust her. After all they were friends…weren't they? Lia sighed softly. Of course she had picked on him…and he had snapped at her before, so maybe they weren't friends…but they were living in the same cave, eating the same food, and becoming somewhat friendly. Didn't that deserve some level of trust?

Lia glanced at Shalu and saw that distant look in his eyes. "Shalu." She snapped at him and he looked at her startled. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" Shalu asked, though he thought he knew the answer from some far-off memory.

"Looking off at nothing. It's really creepy, you know." Lia informed him.

Shalu felt a bitter taste in his mouth. "So I've been told." He muttered to her. Lia cast him a look.

"It makes me kind of…I don't know, worried maybe when you look like that. It's just-"

"Creepy. I know." Shalu breathed loudly, then swallowed. "You don't need to-"

"You're my friend!" Lia stopped him. Shalu blinked in surprise and Lia herself was astonished at her words. But she got over it quicker than Shalu and continued. "At least I think you are. I mean you're sort of civil and all. Friends are supposed to trust each other and you don't seem to trust me at all with your past!" Why do I even care, Lia wondered to herself. Why on earth should it matter that much?

Shalu watched her reaction with a hidden smile, a warmth filling his stomach. A friend. That was better than the "annoying Pride-Lander" name she'd called him earlier. "I do trust you." He told her.

Lia was halfway through trying to talk herself into taking back what she'd said. It would be less confusing, she'd decided. When Shalu spoke her mouth stopped right along with her brain. "I…what?"

"I said I trusted you. I told you about my brother didn't I?" Shalu repeated smartly.

Lia nodded. "Yes. But what about everything else? There's more I know it!"

Shalu looked away. "There is more." He agreed and Lia's eyes brightened. "But I can't, won't, tell you just yet." He looked at her. "What's a lion without his secrets?" He tried to joke.

Lia's eyes were full of something, pity perhaps? But they changed suddenly to a light humor. "Okay…fine. I'll stop bothering you about it…but I still want to know."

"I told you before I would tell you."

"I'm not patient. I don't like to wait on things to happen…or on lions." She added softly. Shalu blinked at her and Lia blushed slightly. "I mean…." Her voice faded and she dropped the subject. Shalu kept glancing at her and Lia felt slightly annoyed. "I'm going to…walk." She said. She started down the path but stopped and glanced at Shalu who was looking off towards the desert, the brown heat waves dancing in his vision. He didn't look like just any Pride-Lander standing there with his bright amber eyes deep in thought, filled with feeling. His red mane and golden fur were brushed across his body by the wind and his face was serious. He's not just any old lion, she concluded to herself and she disappeared into the undergrowth again.

------------------

Neither Shalu nor Lia knew that at that moment in the Pride Lands another lion stood atop his throne. Kovu stood at the edge of Pride Rock, his black man whipped around his face and his green eyes were piercing the land that he looked out upon. His dark fur blended in with the shadow that had covered Pride Rock in the past days, weeks, months…who knew how long that darkness had surrounded the Pride. Kovu glanced up at the sky that was darkened by storm clouds that had rolled in. Kovu smelt the rain on the wind that carried itself across the empty plains.

"Kovu?" A soft, warm voice inquired behind him. Kovu didn't even have to look at the speaker to know it was Kiara. His assumption was proven right as the lioness, his mate and the young Queen of the Pride Lands, stepped beside him. She sat down and let her tan tail wrap around her elegant legs as she stared with light eyes at the deserted Pride Lands.

"They're all gone, aren't they?" She asked, her voice still low. The animals, she was talking about the animals of Pride Lands that had disappeared. All of them: antelope, zebra, monkey, bird. Any and all had disappeared. Only the scent of an odd animal or hyena presented itself across the Pride Lands now.

Kovu nodded, his anger boiling slightly as his thoughts landed on hyenas. Murders, pathetic low-life scum that had in their cowardly numbers brought down the greatest, in his mind anyway, King and Queen of the Pride Lands. Of course due credit must be given to the Great Mufasa, Kovu realized. But Simba had been Simba. And nothing had ripped Kovu's heart like arriving too late to help. Mangy, stupid, no good-

"There's going to be a fight." Kiara said. Kovu's name-calling of the hyenas stopped abruptly as she spoke.

"What?" He asked, feeling bad that he hadn't been giving her his full attention.

"There's going to be a fight. The ones responsible-"

"The hyenas." Kovu broke in. But Kiara shook her head.

"No. Hyenas aren't smart enough." Kovu had to agree with her on that account. "Someone else planned this…they'd been planning it for the Great Kings know how long." She looked at her mate with sad eyes. "Think about it, Kovu. Shalu killed, then Vitani. Now Papa and Mama. Who's left?"

"Us." Kovu concluded. "What about Talo?"

Kiara's eyes looked hurt at what seemed like a suggestion that she'd forgotten her other son. "Maybe they planned it that long ago." She murmured. "No more heirs."

"No more advice from old rulers."

"Just us…us and the pride."

"How many lionesses? How big is the Pride?" Kovu asked her, his heart feeling like it was being ripped apart again at the thought that his sons had been killed because of someone's plan. That they were dead because someone, lion or otherwise, had decided to begin to rid the Pride Lands of the Royal Family, and perhaps rule it themselves? Kovu wasn't completely sure.

"There's seventeen, including us." Kiara told him.

"Seventeen." Kovu breathed, trying to imagine how large the enemy might be. With hyenas at their disposal, who knew.

Kiara looked over at Kovu. "What are we going to do?" She asked slowly, seeing worry on his face.

Kovu stared ahead of him, out at the darkening land. "We fight." He said calmly.

Kiara's eyes widened. "With seventeen lions?"

Kovu nodded slowly. "With seventeen lions…we'll fight with all we've got, or had."

"Kovu-" Kiara began.

Kovu turned and met her amber eyes with his green ones. "We have to fight…fight for what the Great Kings created and what we're supposed to protect."

"What if we can't stop them?" asked Kiara.

Kovu turned and started back to the cave. He stopped for a moment and replied over his shoulder, "I…haven't thought that far, and frankly wish I didn't have to." And then he disappeared into the blackness of the cave.

Kiara sighed and looked up at where the stars would've shown had it been nightfall. "Papa I know you're up there." She spoke softly. "With grandfather and all the other Great Kings. And if you could, all of you, help us. Guide us. If you can't do that…at least will you find someone who can help us and save us from losing the Pride Lands. And lead them here. Please…."

--------------------------

A dark lion stood on a group of jagged rocks on the edge of the Pride Lands. Dark shadows from the black clouded sky stretched across the land., crossing the rocks as well. The lion's mane brushed his face as he looked out with icy eyes. He stared at the large form of Pride Rock that stood out in the Savannah and his eyes narrowed, a low growl escaping his throat.

"They can't hear you." The dark lioness slunk up beside him.

"Soon they'll feel what I can do….and then they won't need to hear me." The lion told her in a daring voice.

A smirk pulled at the lioness' lips. "Ooo, temper. You might want to reel that in before you do anything….rash."

The lion glared at her. "Don't lecture me on rash, Malie. You of all lions don't have that right."

"Your temper will get you into trouble."

"As will your smart tongue." He returned bitterly.

Malie continued to smirk slightly. She easily changed the subject. "You've killed the young Prince and his Aunt. Then the past King and Queen."

"Barely. They might have been old but they weren't weak like you thought."

"They were overpowered by your hyenas, even two strong lions couldn't have survived that. The fact that they were old only made it easier."

The lion snorted as he continued to stare out at the land. "We sent fifty hyenas. And of that fifty how many returned? Twenty! Twenty not without their wounds I might add. Them being old made nothing easier. Only the fact that we had them outnumbered gave us victory. And now we have less hyenas then we did when we started out." The lion glared at her. "Besides, they're your hyenas, not mine. I'm not lowering myself by saying that those flea-bitten mongrels belong to me."

"That's not the point." Malie said, her face slightly hot. "Simba and Nala are dead, and we can replace hyenas, that's no problem. And now all that's left is that group of traitorous lionesses and the unworthy King and his even less worthy Queen." She spat.

"A bit jealous are we?" It was the lion's turn to smirk at his counterpart.

"You only wish." Glared Malie.

The lion chuckled. "This whole plot is centered around Kovu and Kiara and your revenge on Kovu. Sometimes I wonder if that's all it is, and has nothing to do with 'finishing Zira's work" as you put it."

Malie glared at him. "Zira promised me the right to rule beside Kovu." She snarled.

"As his mate." The lion looked at her with evil amusement. "Something tells me she didn't inform the prodigy of that plan."

Malie held back her temper. "He knew. And he went on and took up with that pathetic princess, abandoning us all, and ruining Zira's perfect plot. His cubs, and that throne, should've been mine!"

The lion rolled his eyes. "Zira's plot was far from perfect. She didn't account for Kovu actually having feelings other than the lust for Simba's blood and revenge for Scar. Besides," He continued. "The other outsider lionesses don't seem to mind it half as much as you do."

"They didn't have a promise broken to them." Malie reminded him darkly. "I'll relish it when Kiara's dead. After you've shown Kovu a thing or two."

The lion made a noise. "You mean after I've carried out your revenge on Kovu for you, and then made Kiara weak enough so you could stand a chance. She's no pansy, Malie. I'll wager if she's not weak before you take her on, she'll kill you in less time than it would take you to string a sneering sentence together."

Malie growled low at him. "Don't get cocky. The student never surpasses the teacher."

The lion narrowed his eyes. "What Pride Lands are you living in where you believe that?" He dared. He turned to walk off and Malie called to him.

"Watch your back, little cub. You never know when you'll find claws in it."

The lion whirled and faced his partner, his eyes flashing. "Is that a threat?" He demanded.

"Of course not." Malie replied sweetly. "It's a promise, Future King."

"Keep your promises to yourself." The lion ordered. "Or I might just give you up to the hyenas after I take over Pride Rock."

"Only if you had brotherly help." Malie returned. "Or perhaps the help of the Great Kings."

The lion glared at her. "I don't need or want the help of dead lions who've done nothing worthy of the praise everyone so willingly gives them." The lion spat bitterly, then turned sharply and left her standing there, a menacing smile revealing her teeth, her yellow eyes flashing in the darkness as the dark-maned lion disappeared around the rocks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't you love the bad-guys? I do. They have so much more fun I think...at least the ones in stories. Anyway there you go...that's chapter 8. I hope the beginning wasn't too repetitive from last chapter...if it was my apologies but Lia doesn't really like people not telling her stuff...and she will be finding out soon exactly what Shalu isn't telling her. Besides...they need to start showing some feelings toward each other...well more feelings :) :) Please review...PLEASE:0)


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update. What with seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (yay Johnny Depp!), having to read "Killer Angels" before me and my family go to Gettysburg next week, dog sitting 24-7, and with my internet acting up it's been hard to work on the story and get it on the site. Anyway...thank you **soarineaglewings**, **Croupier**, **Son Of A Lion King**, and** The Ligerion Emperor **for reviewing. You will be finding out who the bad guys are in this chapter...ah but don't read ahead :) Oh and 'jake', I have a lion for you in the sequal to this story that I'm planning...so you'll see your name there, hopefully.

Disclaimer: If you recognize it it's not mine.

Kudoos! Happy reading :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9

Shalu came through the trees on the outer edge of the clearing and let the scents fill his nose. He breathed deep and stopped. Palini was lying in the middle of the clearing, his dark eyes staring unblinkingly at a butterfly that hovered around a swarm of flowers. Shalu held his breath as the butterfly danced around the flowers and then flapped off into the trees.

"It always surprises me how something so tiny and fragile has the ability to fly around the jungle." Palini spoke in an amused soft voice. Shalu remembered to let his breath out as he smiled at the older lion. Palini was forever saying things that didn't appear to relate at all, and then it would come full circle and Shalu would realize that it indeed did have some hidden meaning. He was a wise old lion, even if he seemed a little distant at times.

Well I'm distant too at times, Shalu concluded to himself. I guess I can see why some people find it a bit odd.

Palini sat up and glanced at the younger lion. They didn't spend a lot of time together, mainly because Palini was always wandering the jungle, or taking a nap. And Shalu was either on the rocks staring out at nothing, or running with Lia, attempting to find his way through the jungle.

"Where have you been?" he questioned, sounding as though he was holding back a laugh.

Shalu looked at himself, His legs were covered in drying mud, and if he guessed right, his face would also be splattered with it. "Oh…um well you see…"

"Shalu fell." Lia supplied, coming up near him, her body also splashed with brown mud.

Palini raised an eye. "Ah I see. And you fell in with him, did you?"

Lia felt her cheeks become hot. "Dad!" she moaned, like a cub. Palini chuckled.

Palini chuckled and Lia rolled her eyes, but Shalu caught the amused look in them so he knew she didn't mind too much that her father teased her.

"Don't you trust me?" Lia fake pouted at her father.

Palini smiled. "Of course. I trust you both…though I do admit it's interesting to have one's daughter and her friend come back covered in mud. What happened?"

Lia began to explain how they'd been running and ended up having a wrestling match after Shalu had tripped in the mud.

Shalu scraped at the ground with his paw as Lia spoke. Not that he minded Palini's light teasing either, but there was a strange feeling in his stomach, guilt maybe, at the word "trust" from Palini.

If either Lia or Palini noticed Shalu's unease than they blew it off as nothing. But by the time Lia had finished her story, and her and Shalu had managed to get most of the mud off of them, and Palini had settled back into his dozing, Shalu was feeling much more guilty than he would've thought right. I told Lia I'd tell them someday, he thought.

Every lion deserves his secrets, argued one half of him.

But I don't like lying to them. They trust me. Shalu thought with regret.

You're not lying…just bending the truth a bit.

I'm not being truthful at all! Shalu stormed.

What do you think they'd say if they knew you were a Prince?

Well Lia didn't say too much when she found out about Talo.

Well sure let's bring him into this…

Okay enough! Stop arguing with me…with myself….oh just stop. I'm going to tell them, and that's that. No more secrets or lies or "bending" the truth. Just me and my past.

The other side of him was silent and Shalu sighed in victory. Lia glanced at him, a question in her eyes that she looked as though she was yearning to ask, but had held back.

Shalu swallowed. "Um, Lia?"

"Yes?" It would be easier to address her first. Somehow admitting that to the wise old lion would've been much worse.

"I…well when you said I wasn't telling you everything…you remember that day on the rocks…?" He began slowly. He noticed Palini looking at them to listen.

Lia nodded. "I remember."

"You were right." Shalu said rather quickly, wanting to just get it out.

Lia blinked at him, and then began to slowly realize that he was actually going to tell her what it was he kept hidden. "Really?"

"Yes. You see I….well I…." Shalu faltered. What are you scared now? You just said you were going to tell them already. The other side of him dared. "When I lived in the Pride Lands I wasn't just some lion." He continued. "I was…the Prince." Shalu glanced at the too lions to see their reaction.

Lia looked like she'd been hit in the face. Her mouth was slightly agape and her eyes were wide in shock. A prince! The thought exploded in the depths of her mind. "A…a prince." She stuttered.

Palini looked interested to say the least. "You're Kiara's son." He concluded.

Shalu nodded. He could answer questions, that was easier than telling them his life story outright. "And Kovu's." He added.

Palini looked at him sharply. "Kovu? The lion that Scar supposedly named his heir?"

How old could this lion have been that he knew that? Wondered Shalu. Old enough to see my mother presented to the animals, and yet have a cub as old as I? "Yes." Shalu agreed.

"And the Outsiders and Pride Landers…accept that?"

"There was a fight." Shalu explained. "Zira was killed, and the Outsiders and Pride Landers joined into one big pride."

"Interesting events." Palini muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Shalu glanced at Lia. "Are you okay?" He asked her uncertainly.

"Yes…I'm fine." She said, sounding breathless. "I'm just realizing that I've insulted, teased, and threw a Prince into a mud puddle." She looked at him. "I'm not sure whether I should feel ashamed at that…or mad that you didn't tell us earlier." She cocked her head. "Though that explains why you can't hunt…you were pampered."

Shalu knew better than to take that tease seriously. "I'd hope that you don't feel ashamed or angry. At me or yourself. Especially me." He added.

Lia looked at him somewhat affectionately. "Why didn't you tell us before?" Palini asked. "I think I know why it took you so long to tell Lia about your brother, it must be a very painful memory. But being a Prince shouldn't be painful, or shameful, at all."

Shalu ignored the slight shock of being faced with the fact that Palini knew about Talo. Of course Lia would have told her father. "I wasn't a good Prince, or I never felt like I would make a good king. Talo, my brother, always was the bigger, the stronger, the smarter of the us two. He would've made a good king, a good leader. I just…well I followed him, I always did. I can't fight, well not very well, and Lia you know I'm not a great hunter." Lia held back a small chuckle. "I wouldn't have made a good king. So when I got pushed down the gorge…I realized that maybe I wasn't meant to be king. And so I ran away, and the Prince of the Pride Lands died in the gorge."

"It seems to me." Palini began slowly. "That the kind of King you make isn't determined on how good of a fighter or hunter you are, but how you handle yourself in the situations thrown upon you." Shalu blinked at him, trying to understand. "Your brother may be a good fighter, but if he didn't know when to fight and when not to, then he wouldn't have made a very good king."

"I ran away." Shalu said. "I was a coward. That didn't make me a very good king either. Well, future king."

Lia cleared her throat and the two males looked at her. "I think my father's right. Shalu you're smart, and you're not that bad of a hunter. You could make a good king, if you ever went back." Her last statement was reluctant. Shalu noticed and spoke without thinking.

"I'm not going back." Lia and Palini's eyes widened slightly. "I've been thinking…and decided that maybe destiny thought I should be here, not in the Pride Lands. It just took a little…push to get me here." Shalu half felt like he was making it all up, and as the two other lions continued to watch him, Shalu began to feel uneasy. "If that's all right…."

"It's fine." Lia said quickly and Palini smiled as though seeing something no one else saw. A warmth and comfort was filling Lia's chest and she didn't even question her father's strange expression.

"Are you mad at me for not telling you?" Shalu asked, locking eyes with Lia for a split second.

"No." She smiled. "Every lion deserves his secrets…it makes him more interesting."

See I told you! The other half of him gloated.

Oh be quiet. She accepted it, and she's not mad. Shalu scolded his other half. Lia grinned at him "Besides…you did tell us."

Shalu looked at Palini. "Are you…?" He let the question fade at the look on Palini's face.

"How can I be mad at a fear to reveal secrets? Everyone has fear." Palini supplied.

I'll take that as a no. Shalu concluded, trying to grasp exactly what Palini was saying which, as usual, was more like a riddle.

Lia nudged his shoulder and he glanced down at her. He'd grown a bit since he'd arrived and even managed to build some muscle under his fur.

"Come on…let's go for a walk." She said slowly. Shalu's mouth quirked into a grin and he followed her into the jungle.

Palini sat and watched the two. "A Prince." He murmured. "Strange how they manage to find themselves in the jungle." He looked up at the sky that was beginning to turn shades of red in the afternoon. "And strange also how you always manage to convince them of their true destiny."

---------------

The clouds were becoming more dense around Pride Rock, and the stars were unable to shine their light through the thickness. Kovu's nostrils widened as he took in the scents that blew up to him on the wind. His black mane tore at his face and his ears flicked back as he heard someone approaching.

"Your highness." A normally comical voice spoke slowly.

Kovu turned his head and forced a smile on his lips as he laid eyes on Timon and Pumba. Old though they were, they continued to thrive on relaxation, and humor in even the dire of situations.

"Timon. Pumba." He acknowledged.

Pumba bowed as he often did and Kovu held back his chuckle. If he'd told them both once, he told them a hundred times not to bow or give him titles like "your majesty" and the like.

"So…how fares the war plan?" Timon asked lightly.

Kovu shrugged. "We can't do anything until they attack us. I don't want to go looking for trouble if I don't have to."

"So…you'll fight?" Pumba questioned.

Kovu nodded. "Yes I will."

Timon puffed out his chest. "Then we will too."

Kovu sent him an amused look. "You two don't have to. You're old and-"

"And nuthin'!" Timon broke in. "We helped Simba save this pride twice before. Twice! And if you think you're not getting our help then think again, your majesty!"

Kovu winced at the title and sighed in surrender. There would be no way to talk them out of it.

"What if we lose?" Pumba asked softly.

Kovu started. "I'm trying to optimistic and think that we won't." He replied shortly. He glanced at the two of them and smiled. "No worries, guys. Like you two say, Hakuna Matata."

Timon chuckled. "Got to hand it to you kid, you do learn the right stuff."

Kovu smiled. His smile then faded slowly. "You two might want to go get some grubs to eat. You never know if it'll be your last." He added slowly.

Timon rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah you're one real optimistic cat all right."

Kovu chuckled as the two left him. He was about to turn his gaze back to the Pride Lands when Suaz ran up panting beside him. "Kovu!" She gasped, her sides heaving.

"What is it?" He asked, concerned.

"They're coming. Hundreds of hyenas." She reported. She met his eyes, her's leaking with fear. "They're heading straight for Pride Rock."

Kovu roared and Suaz winced as her ears popped from the noise. "Rally the lionesses." Kovu ordered. He began stalking to the cave then stopped and looked at her. "And watch out for Pumba and Timon."

Suaz nodded. "Kovu? Good luck." She whispered.

Kovu attempted to smile at her but failed. "We'll need more than luck." And he turned quickly and went to find Kiara. Suaz looked out over the Pride Lands and fear gripped her heart in icy coldness. How could this all be happening she wondered. Oh Talo and Shalu I wish you were here, then at least I wouldn't feel so alone. Suaz took off quickly to find the rest of the lionesses as the darkness covered the land.

--------------

Shalu and Lia sat by the edge of the lake, watching as the sky turned red and purple, the sun beginning to fade from the sky. Shalu looked down from the sky at the lioness sitting beside him. Her green eyes glittered as she blinked at the sky, the slight wind brushed the light fur on her cheeks and Shalu let out a breath. Lia glanced at him and smiled weakly, still unsure exactly how to act now.

Shalu sensed the unease. "I told you I wasn't a Prince anymore." He told her softly, his breath tickled her ear, which twitched in protest.

"I know it's just…." She looked at him. "You're still a Prince inside, even if you claim you're not. It's who you are Shalu…just like you're still a Pride-Lander."

Shalu groaned. "You're not going to keep calling me that name are you?" He begged.

Lia laughed, a real laugh, not a fake one like he half expected. "I was thinking more about 'Prince Pride-Lander' now."

Shalu groaned and Lia laughed harder. A smile crept across Shalu's lips and he grinned like a goofy cub at her. Shalu then turned his gaze to the water, blinking at his reflection. Lia finally calmed down and noticed him staring at the water.

She pulled a teasing smile. "Tell me you're not staring at your reflection? Vain little prince aren't you?" She joked.

Shalu smiled slightly. "No. Someone once said to look inside ourselves to find the love ones we've lost." Shalu looked at her. "That we can see them in us."

Lia leaned down and looked at her reflection next to his. She cocked her head slightly, feeling her head brush Shalu's full mane that was reflecting in the water. Lia swallowed as she watched his golden fur and amber eyes dance on the water's surface. "Do you see anything special in your reflection?" Lia whispered to him.

Shalu's eyes looked slightly downcast as he shook his head. "No." Then he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Though I won't say as much for the other reflections."

Lia grinned to herself. "Were you trying to flatter me?" She questioned.

"Of course not." Shalu grinned mischievously. "Did it work?"

Lia laughed. "Yeah…almost."

Shalu grinned. Lia moved closer to him and settled her head under Shalu's chin, her breath shifting his red mane. "Shalu?"

"Hmm?" Shalu asked, his eyes half closed, his heart still beating fast at the feeling of her so close to him.

Lia moved her head and looked slightly up at him. He blinked at her, confused. "I know that what happened before you came here…I know that it was hard…with your brother's death and…and being almost…" She stopped.

"Killed." Shalu supplied.

Lia smiled slightly. "Yeah. But I just…I want you to know that no matter how bad it was…I'm glad that you did end up here." She told him slowly.

Shalu watched her for a long moment before a dim realization crossed his mind and he smiled slightly. "I am too." He replied truthfully, feeling like he finally understood what Palini had meant by good coming from bad. Lia returned his warm smile and nuzzled his head again, before licking his cheek and turning to walk off. Shalu cocked his head for a moment before leaping after her to prance around in the flowers.

After they'd exhausted their energy romping around they stopped, rolling on their backs to stare up at the sky that had darkened to dark purple. Shalu saw a bright star flickering in the sky and sighed. "My grandfather used to tell me that the Great Kings and Queens of the Past lived up there." He pointed with his paw and Lia followed it with her interested eyes.

"Do you think my mom's up there?' Lia asked him, watching his face.

Shalu looked at her, his amber eyes meeting her bright green ones for a breathless moment. "Yes. She was queen of the jungle wasn't she? Just like you're it's princess." He smiled.

Lia's mouth twitched. "You're trying to flatter me again aren't you?" She asked.

Shalu shook his head. "No…I'm telling the truth." He replied seriously.

Lia licked her lips and looked up at the sky. "Is there anyone you know up there?" She asked him.

Shalu glanced up at the sky. "My great-grandfather and grandmother are up there, I didn't know them personally of course, but they're up there." He breathed slowly. He deliberately left out Zira and Nuka. Who knew if they were up there or not…but from what he heard Zira and Nuka had never made it too King or Queen. Scar might've been up there, but he doubted it.

"Anyone else?" Lia prodded.

Shalu shrugged. "My grandparents I think." He blurted out without realizing it. Shalu's eyes widened in silent shock. Where had that come from? His grandparents were fine when he'd left home…but that seemed like ages ago…who really knew. Shalu swallowed and felt a sudden empty feeling in his stomach, almost like reinforcing his words. Shalu blinked and continued to stare up at the sky.

Lia settled down closer to him and asked, "Do you think your brother's up there?"

Shalu smiled slightly. "If I know Talo he's up there driving the Great Kings crazy by waking up at the crack of dawn." He laughed.

Lia grinned at him and Shalu nudged her head as they watched another star brighten up the dark sky. "One day you'll have to tell me about your brother." Lia whispered in Shalu's ear.

Shalu smiled at her. "One day I'll be sure to."

-----------

Shalu opened his heavy eyes, unsure of why he was waking up. Darkness still covered the clearing and sky. It was late into the night, why was he awake? Shalu looked down at his side and saw Lia snuggled up against his fur, her pretty face peaceful in dreams. Shalu smiled at her and licked her ear as it twitched. He looked up and glanced around the clearing. The moon and stars were reflecting like milk off the lake, dancing against the water. Shalu blinked and stood up, careful not to disturb Lia's slumber.

Shalu walked to the water's edge and leaned his face close to get a drink, then stopped. Staring back at him was a lion's face, large and golden like Shalu's. His eyes were bright amber and his mane was the color of blood. It was similar in all ways to his own face, but it wasn't his face, he could feel it in his body that it was wrong. Shalu stepped back away from the water, his body shaking.

"Why do you fear what's in front of you?" a high voice asked. Shalu turned and saw an old baboon sitting near him holding a long stick. Where did he come from? He wasn't there a moment ago. A memory pulled at the back of Shalu's mind but he pushed it away and looked back at the water. The face was still there, majestic and stern as though he was disappointed in something. In me? Wondered Shalu. What did I do? Or didn't do? There was a ruffle of the wind and the picture disappeared. Shalu looked around and realized that the baboon had disappeared. Shalu then suddenly turned around to see a gold lion standing near him. The same one from the pond.

Shalu had to bite his tongue from making any sound. Behind the lion he saw Lia's body, her breaths following the rise and fall of her back. She was still fast asleep. Shalu swallowed hard and stared at the lion. His fur color, his eyes, his mane…like Simba's except…not.

Shalu felt numb as realization hit him like a cold burst of water. "Mufasa…." Shalu breathed. "Great-grandfather…that's impossible!" Shalu breathed.

"Obviously not." Vitani stepped close to Mufasa, her familiar bangs ruffling on her forehead.

"Vitani?" Shalu nearly choked on the name. This wasn't happening. Mufasa was one thing, Shalu knew he was dead. But Vitani? He would've been much less surprised had Simba been there. "This is…"

"Impossible…you said that." Vitani smirked at her nephew. "Honestly Shalu, you were always more level headed than your brother, I would think that you would realize that this is real."

"Please be a dream." Begged Shalu to no one.

Vitani scoffed and shook her head. "This is no dream Shalu. You're awake and seeing us. Bite yourself if you must make sure."

Shalu decided he'd rather not inflict pain on himself to see if they were in fact real. Well not _real_ real. He could sort of see through them, like they weren't really there. "Mufasa is dead." Shalu said, half wanting to assure himself.

"Yes." This time it was Mufasa's rich voice that greeted him.

Shalu licked his shaking lips. "But you're not!" He told Vitani. "Are you?"

Vitani's eyes were sad as she looked at him and nodded. Shalu felt his heart pound. "But….how! You were fine the day I left. I saw you…you were alive and fine! What happened? And why do I have this sinking feeling you aren't the only one that's dead that shouldn't be?"

Vitani tried to smile at him. "Simba and Nala are also dead. You saw that in your dream that the Great Kings sent you."

"You'll have to thank them for the nightmare for me." Shalu muttered, but fell silent at a cocked eye from Mufasa.

"I was killed the day you disappeared." Vitani explained, her voice so distant, like a whisper though Shalu could clearly hear every word she spoke. "Simba and Nala were killed later by hyenas."

"Yeah…I remember." Shalu breathed with a cold chill. He shook his head and stared at his aunt and ancestor. "But…how? And why? This doesn't make any sense."

"Your brother." Vitani said.

Shalu forgot to breath as his eyes widened at her. "I…I….what!" He demanded, trying to fight the urge to throw up. His legs were shaking and he was afraid he would fall down at any moment.

"Your brother." Vitani repeated and Shalu saw Mufasa nod sadly in agreement.

Shalu shook his head. "No!" He said roughly. "He's dead. He died ages ago. If you're telling me that then this has to be a dream."

"This is not a dream, Shalu!" Vitani yelled, loosing her patience. "This is real. Talo is alive and he killed me, and ordered the death of Simba and Nala."

"Talo's dead!" Shalu growled back. "He's dead…he…" His voice faded. Shalu's breath was coming fast. "In the elephant graveyard…when we got separated…the hyenas….they killed him."

"We could never find him Shalu. We never found the body." Vitani soothed. "He didn't die Shalu. He was taken in by someone else who controlled the hyenas at the time."

Shalu shook his head. "How do you know that?" He demanded. "You're dead! You weren't there!"

"The Great Kings see everything that happens in the Pride Lands." Mufasa's voice, though deep and fairly gruff, seemed to calm Shalu's insides more than Vitani's had. "We can not always intervene. But we know what happens, and see everything…good and evil."

Shalu's eyes hardened. "So…you're saying that Talo didn't die? That someone randomly took him in-"

"Not randomly. Planned." Vitani broke in.

Shalu looked at her. "Planned? What do mean that it was planned for us to go to the Elephant Graveyard? Planned for Talo to…" Shalu stopped. He couldn't say dead, but couldn't fully admit his brother was alive. And what had Vitani said? That Talo had killed her. Impossible. It was impossible. Wasn't it?

But then there was two lions, obviously dead, standing in front of him, telling him what they knew. Shalu nipped his shoulder and felt a slight pain and realized that he wasn't dreaming.

"Shalu I know you know that we're telling the truth." Vitani said slowly.

Shalu opened his mouth, wishing he could say that she was a liar. And then suddenly a vision appeared in his head. The day he fell into the gorge, the lion he had seen, the one who had pushed him. It looked like Kovu, but younger. And he knew only one lion who could've grown up to look like his father. Could it have been Tao? "The lion who pushed me…" murmured Shalu. Vitani's smile was bitter and Shalu felt an odd taste in his mouth as a dim realization hit him. This was no dream, his brother was not dead. But it was worse than his brother being dead, his brother being alive and being a murderer. Well attempted murderer when it came to Shalu at least.

"Okay fine." Shalu said shortly. "Let's say that he is alive. That he killed you and grandfather and grandmother. That he tried to…to kill me." It was so hard to say that, Shalu realized suddenly. "Fine okay, but I don't understand why. Why would someone plan that? And why would he want to kill us? If he was alive why didn't he come home." Why didn't I come home, a small voice wondered at him.

"Shalu do you remember your parents telling you about the fight between the Outsiders and Pride Landers?" Vitani asked.

Shalu snorted his reply. No cub grew up not knowing that story. "Yes. When they joined prides."

"Not all of them joined." Vitani corrected him.

"What do you mean?" Shalu asked, his heart beating loud in his ears.

"There was one lioness who didn't."

"Why?" Shalu wondered.

"Zira had promised Malie the right to rule with Kovu. To be queen and bear his cubs and heirs. Malie couldn't accept the fact that she wouldn't be queen, that Kovu had abandoned her to go to Kiara instead."

"Did dad love her?" Shalu questioned, scared to hear the answer.

Vitani smiled reassuringly. "No, of course not. I don't think he even really knew that mom had promised Malie as his mate. Not that I'm sure mom would've kept her promise anyway. That was just the way mom was." Vitani smiled somewhat affectionately, somewhat distastefully.

"And what does that have to do with Talo?" Shalu asked.

Mufasa spoke for the first time in awhile and Shalu had to stop himself from jumping at the sound of his voice. He'd nearly forgotten the Great King was there. "Malie felt you and Talo were rightfully her sons. That the throne was rightfully hers."

"She was always a bit insane." Vitani mused and Shalu bit back a smile.

"Malie decided that she would use one of you to take over the kingdom. She chose Talo."

"Smart choice." Shlau muttered bitterly. Mufasa looked at him questionably. "Talo's bigger, stronger, more powerful. It would be easier for him to take over the kingdom than it would me."

"That is not the only reason that Malie picked your brother." Mufasa informed him.

"What's the other reason?" Shalu demanded, interested.

"Talo was bitter. It was easier to play around with his feelings, turn him against his family than it would've been to turn you."

Shalu let out an unbelieving chuckle. "Talo? Bitter? Since when?"

"Since you were chosen to be king." Mufasa told him.

Shalu blinked. "I…beg your pardon."

"You were chosen at birth to carry on the role of king when Kovu died. Talo knew it, and it made him bitter on the inside."

Shalu shook his head. "Talo was never like that. Never jealous or bitter towards me."

"Not to you. To the Great Kings. He never trusted them, Shalu, because they chose you at birth." Vitani said.

"Why did you chose me?" Shalu asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Why didn't you wait and chose between us."

Mufasa looked slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed and Shalu was about to ask why when Vitani broke in. "You were to be the rightful king. The Great Kings knew it." She told him shortly. Shalu blinked strangely at her. "Talo…Talo wasn't bitter towards you because you didn't make that choice. But Malie made him believe it was your fault, made him think his parents hadn't looked for him, hadn't cared when he disappeared. And slowly she won him over. She trained him to fight, to take over. And he did."

Shalu's eyes snapped to attention. "Did? You mean…he already has!"

"Earlier today he took over Pride Rock with Malie and a hoard of hyenas at his sides."

Shalu swallowed. "Mom? Dad?"

"They're fine…for now. Talo will kill them soon. Like he did me, without a second thought." Vitani told him, her voice soft.

"But you were family….they're family. He wouldn't…" But he pushed you down a gorge. A voice told him. He sent hyenas after you. And if what they're saying is true, and why shouldn't it be, what reason would they have to lie, then he'll kill mom and dad too. And Malie and him will take over.

"Shalu?" Shalu looked up into Vitani's eyes. "Shalu. You have to stop him."

Shalu's heart froze over in one split second. His breath stopped, his blood pounded and his eyes unfocused for a moment.

"You have to stop Talo."

"What am I supposed to do? He has hyenas…hundreds of them even." Shalu said, finally getting his breath back.

"Fight him. Kill him if you have to. But if you don't stop him somehow the pride and your parents are doomed." The remorse in her voice chilled Shalu to the bone. Well I would hold a grudge against my nephew too if he killed me, Shalu concluded.

But even as Shalu realized that he couldn't bring himself to accept to do what Vitani told him. "I can't. He's my brother."

"He's not your brother anymore." Vitani said slowly, trying to make him understand. "He's a killer. And he'll kill you if he gets the chance. Just like Scar killed Mufasa."

Shalu straightened, staring at his great-grandfather. "Is that it?" He asked. "You expect me to kill my brother so…what will happen? So that will make it even for Scar killing you?" He asked harshly. Shalu didn't understand why he said it, only that he did.

"Shalu!" Vitani's voice cut like a whip but Shalu glared at the two of them.

"What do you want me to do?" He demanded. "I'm not you Mufasa…and maybe Talo isn't Scar."

"Shalu you cannot hide here pretending to not be a Prince, pretending its not your responsibility to stop him." Mufasa spoke, his voice hard. "It is and you have to. One way or another."

"I don't want to become you." Shalu said slowly. "I don't want to have to fight my brother for a throne. I don't want it to have to be him or me. I don't want to kill him! There has to be another way."

"There isn't. You will have to fight." As Mufasa spoke Shalu felt a brief breeze ruffle his fur, but he brushed it off.

"He's bigger. He'll win. And I don't want to kill him, even if I was strong enough to."

Vitani sighed. "You can win Shalu, and you will. You just have to get the courage to go home and face him."

Courage. If I had courage I wouldn't be in this mess, Shalu decided harshly.

"If I fight him we'll both died." Shalu spoke in monotone, his voice so sure. "Like Scar and great-grandfather. One dark, one light. Ironic how life comes full circle." He looked at them. "I'll do something…but I won't kill him." His voice had an edge that wasn't familiar to either him or the other two lions. "I promise you I'll stop him…but I refuse to kill my brother." He emphasized the last word, staring them down, something brewing in the back of his mind. Something was different, he could almost feel it.

Mufasa watched him and Shalu thought he saw a twinkle of, could it have been pride, in Mufasa's eyes. Vitani sighed in surrender. Before he knew what was happening both lions began to fade before his eyes.

"Shalu, you have to do it, you're the only one who can." Vitani watched him then began to turn away. Then stopped and looked over her nephew. "You have to go back, Shalu. When you reach Pride Rock somehow, someway, you'll know what to do." She turned again and faded into the wind.

"Hey!" Shalu leapt to where Vitani had stood a second earlier. Whirling around he saw that Mufasa was also gone. Shalu lay down in the grass and felt the hot tears stream down his face. I won't kill him, Shalu told himself over and over until his head dropped onto his paws, his heavy eyes shut.

Shalu felt a nudge and raised his head. The sun was still down and Lia was nudging his head. "You awake?" She asked, smiling at him. Shalu nodded and stood up and went over to the lake. There was only his reflection. Shalu smiled slightly.

"When I was younger, my family all said I looked like my grandfather. His fur was so golden it glowed. It was like the sun." Lia sat down beside him, her light face interested. "A lot of people thought that I would end up just like my great grandfather, who they said I looked like even more. He had a brother too, one like Talo, dark…dark with no escape." Shalu licked his lips.

Lia was silent, listening. There was something different about Shalu.

Shalu looked up at the sky. "I have to go home." He said suddenly.

Lia looked at him. "What!"

"I have to go home."

"Why? What happened?"

"A Great King and a Great Lioness visited me last night." Shalu said, thinking of his family. "They said my brother came back."

"Your brother? You said he was dead." Lia had stood up and was looking at Shalu as though she had never seen him before. It was too much, for her to finally fully trust him because she felt she knew everything about him, about his brother and him being a Prince. And now…it was all a lie?

"I thought he was." Shalu stared at his reflection and thought he saw it change into Mufasa for just a moment. "I have to go back." It was so soft. "It's up to me to stop my brother. He killed my Aunt, and he wants to kill the rest of my family. I have to do this." It felt like he was condemning himself, and maybe he was.

"Why would you want to? It's paradise here, Shalu. You never have to worry about that anymore."

Shalu looked at her. "I have to. They're my family, it's my home, my responsibility. I have to go back."

Lia looked at him for a moment, a stone expression crossing her face. "Then go." She told him coldly.

Shalu looked at her, wanting to say something, but not able to. "I guess…then I guess this is goodbye…isn't it?

"Your choice." Lia told him.

Shalu felt a pain in his heart. "You know where to find me."

"Likewise."

Shalu turned and bounded off along the lake, letting his instincts guide him. Lia watched him go until he was only a speck on the horizon before turning to stare at her reflection. "Nothing special." She murmured to herself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hehe...that was my "long chapter" :) Anyway I'm sorry if the Malie thing is like anyone else's work...I honestly did not copy it but i don't know how common that kind of evil plot is...you know kidnapping the cub sort of thing. I apologize if it is like anyone elses, that's just how I wrote it and how it worked out. :) :)

Anyway...sorry if it was kind of mushy between Lia and Shalu, they had to get kinda mushy eventually. Please review! I'll try to get the last chapter...sniff sniff...out before I leave next week...not making any promises but I will try. :) Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

And so we have come to the second to last chapter (as there will be an epilogue) in my Lion King 3 story. Sniffle. I am back from my vacation where I worked on this a good portion of the time...and I am now presenting it to you guys. Forgive me if there's too much talking in between fighting...or not enough fighting for you guys. You will just have to get over it. :)

Disclaimer: If you think I own most of these characters I am flattered...though I must inform you that you are mistaken. I own Talo, Shalu, Lia, Palini, Malie, Suaz, and Selan (though she's not in it anymore, yet I add her in this list)and that is all.

Kudoos and enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10

Talo stood still at the top of Pride Rock. The wind gusted around him, the smell of the oncoming storm was fresh in his nose. The darkness had taken over the land, and the black billowing clouds continued to roll along the sky. Light flashed between the clouds and a rumble shook the earth. Talo's tall, muscled body barely flinched at the sound, his green eyes looked up at the sky and his lips turned into a smirk.

"Is that the best you can do?" He challenged softly. The wind howled in reply and Talo's smirk widened. "And they call you the Great Kings." He scoffed.

"For many reasons that you have yet to prove untrue." A silky voice said from behind him.

Talo rolled his eyes as Malie stepped up near him, looking over the land. "When I want your opinion, I'll ask." Talo informed her, his eyes still watching the clouds.

"Do they scare you?" Malie asked, her voice teasing with a steal edge.

Talo let out a snort. "Scared? Of what? Blinking stars?"

Malie smiled slightly, but it turned suddenly into a deep frown. "Two days." She said slowly, looking at Talo. "We've had Pride Rock for two days."

Talo sent her a sarcastic look. "I'm glad you've noticed that when the sun goes down it marks the end of a day." He told her.

Malie narrowed her eyes. "By this time we should've killed Kiara and Kovu. They've been alive too long already."

"You are impatient, aren't you." Talo sneered at her.

Malie growled, a dull rough sound that came from the depths of her throat. "Them being alive gives the remaining lionesses hope, hope that maybe they can throw us off the thrones."

Talo looked at her with unbelief. "Throw us off Pride Rock? How? We have scores of hyenas and they don't even have one score of lions to defend themselves."

"Hope is enough to stir up trouble." Malie insisted, losing her temper.

"If you're so eager to have them killed, don't wait for me, go do it yourself." Talo smiled at the look of loss on her face. Malie was a good fighter, true enough. She'd taught him almost everything she knew, and he could kill practically any lion he wanted, or believed he could. But Malie didn't want to get into a fight she wasn't a hundred percent sure that she could win, and the fact that Kovu was bigger, and Kiara was faster, made Malie shift in unease. She would only fight them after Talo had made them as weak as newborn cubs, had worn them out, thrashed and fought them so they couldn't defend themselves anymore. And that was only if she decided to get her paws dirty at all.

"The deal was that you would carry out my revenge." Malie reminded him.

"Deal?" Talo demanded angrily. "The same deal that you offered after you had me kidnapped by hyenas?"

"I saved you from them, made sure you had food. You would've died if not for me, with your parents just leaving you in the Elephant Graveyard." Malie said. "I trained you, gave you hyenas at your disposal, and you were supposed to kill your parents for me."

Talo ignored her. "That's your revenge, not mine. I'll do it when I'm good and ready."

"And what's your revenge, oh noble prince? To tick off the Great Kings? By doing what exactly?" Malie spat at him.

Talo whirled at her, his green eyes flashing. "By doing this." He responded. "By taking over their precious Pride Rock. By getting rid of the last Great King and Queen to rule, by sending their chosen one down into the dirt, right where he belongs. By proving to them, once and for all, that I am the rightful ruler of Pride Rock and should've been chosen for the position, not Shalu." Talo snarled at her.

Malie took a tentative step back, but continued holding Talo's eyes. "Your revenge will not be complete until you remove the current ruler from the throne. Kovu may be captive, but he is not yet removed. You must kill him to prove your point." She stressed. "And mine."

Talo leaned closer. "And what if I decide I'd rather keep him around a bit? What are you going to do, eh Malie?"

A sly smile crept across Malie's face. "You were right when you said before that the hyenas weren't yours. They're mine. I can turn them against you as fast as you can blink."

Talo continued to glare, but there was slight doubt in his eyes. He hated hyenas. If it was his choice he would've opted to take Pride Rock without using the worthless vermin. They made this much too complicated. Besides the fact that he remembered the early days with the hyenas. They were the ones that took him from the Elephant Graveyard, the ones who guarded him against escape before Malie had planted her seeds of doubt and evil into his small bitter heart. Talo swallowed and glared. "Fine." He finally said. Then he leaned back to stare her in the face. "But Malie don't let your guard down. I might decide to throw you off Pride Rock myself…literally." He turned and walked off.

Malie walked up beside him. "I look forward to the attempt, oh partner of mine." She sneered at him.

Talo flicked his ears angrily. "_Temporary_ partners." He growled to her. "Don't forget that. I am the King here, and you'll stay here as long as _I_ want it." Malie glared at him, but kept silent.

Talo wove his way through the hyenas that scattered Pride Rock's surface. True there were fewer than there had been in Scar's day, but the number was still impressive. Talo stopped in front of the cave. The lionesses were being kept in there, far to the back where they didn't bother anyone, and no one bothered them. Talo glanced in, but like always saw no sign of the lionesses. He breathed in a huff, of course he never saw any of them, it was his idea in first place to keep them there.

Talo turned and blinked as he saw his mother and father sitting there near the embankment that descended Pride Rock. They looked at him and Talo almost felt shame at the hard look in their eyes. Almost.

Talo sent a cold look at his parents, sitting there surrounded by hyenas. The hyenas all stepped aside, leaving a large empty space on Pride Rock around Talo, Malie, Kovu and Kiara.

Kiara glanced around her. A shudder filled her body as she saw the faces of the hyenas. She was still worn out from the previous battle and Kovu didn't look much better. He nudged her shoulder assuredly as he stepped up closer to Talo.

"So…you're the only two left." Talo mused aloud. "You should feel privileged."

Kovu narrowed his eyes. "I would feel more privileged if it wasn't my son that was doing the murdering."

"Murder is such a harsh word." Talo said, flinching slightly.

"Murder is a harsh thing as well." Kovu spoke slowly. "Why are you listening to Malie?"

"She's right…well most of the time." Talo concluded. "You didn't care that I was gone…you just began training Shalu to be king."

"That's not true!" Kiara pleaded loudly. "We looked everywhere for you."

Talo looked uncomfortable, but glared at them all the same. "I don't care for your excuses. It was your mistake…you can't change it. Just like the Great King's made a mistake."

"The Great Kings don't make mistakes." Kovu informed him.

Talo chuckled coldly. "They chose Shalu to rule Pride Rock." He snarled. "Shalu…the weak pathetic cub that followed me around like a-"

"Brother." Kiara broke in.

"Like a flea." Talo finished, ignoring his mother. "And now look. They were wrong. I'm the King of Pride Rock and Shalu is dead at the bottom of a gorge. Who made that mistake?" He demanded loudly. "And now, Mother and Father dearest….you'll get to join them. Get to join your parents, and your siblings in cold, inescapable death!" Talo spat.

Kiara shifted on her paws. Talo was bigger than her now, and stronger than his father. Oh Great Kings help us, she begged.

Kovu felt the dirt meld to his paws, felt the next rumble of thunder as though it had happened throughout his body. He swallowed hard, reaching into the depths of his mind to his mother's training. Fight without holding anything back…fight to kill. To kill his son? And Talo was still his son, wasn't he? Talo growled low and buckled his body, preparing to leap at his father. There was another crash of thunder and Talo jumped out at Kovu.

A long stick came from nowhere, landing hard front of Talo, inches from his nose. Talo stumbled and stopped, staring at it, the hard piece of wood with gourds tied to the top. Talo followed the stick to its owner, who held the other end, his face bright red, his gray and white hair frizzy.

Talo stepped back and stared at the old baboon. What was he doing here? Talo wondered to himself. He glanced at Malie and saw that her eyes were wide with surprise. Talo turned back to the monkey. "What are you doing?" He demanded. Kovu and Kiara stared at them.

"Stopping you." The monkey informed him, a slight laughing edge to his voice.

Talo smirked. "You, are going to stop…me? Ha that's a laugh!" Talo took a step over to the monkey. "You…an old monkey are going to stop the King of Pride Rock?"

"Baboon." The monkey informed him. "And you are not the rightful king."

Talo gaped at him. "I…what?"

"You are a false king…false!" The baboon squawked at him.

Talo blinked. "I don't know where you've been living the past couple days, but this kingdom, this throne, is mine. The pride is captured and I'm ruling Pride Rock."

"No you're not!" The monkey replied in sing-song voice.

Talo narrowed his eyes, irritated now. "Get out of here!" He yelled at the monkey, stopping when the old creature pointed its stick at him.

"You are not the rightful king. The Light one is the rightful king, and you won't be on this throne much longer."

"The light one." Talo said with disgust. "You mean Shalu? Let me tell you something, monkey, Shalu's dead, lying at the bottom of a gorge out in the Pride Lands." Kiara's gasp was ignored as Talo spoke.

But the baboon shook his head. "He will come, and you will rule no more."

"Get it through you're old knocked around head!" Talo growled. "Shalu is dead, I pushed him myself. He's gone, dead. Forever! He's not coming back to save this pathetic pride!"

"I wouldn't call this pride pathetic." A voice spoke out.

Talo turned suddenly and saw a lion standing on the edge of Pride Rock. The hyenas had backed away from him, their hair raised on their hackles. The lion's fur was like the sun that hadn't shone at Pride Rock since Talo had come, his mane the color of the blood that Talo had spilled on the Savannah. His eyes were an amber fire, his head held high like a king's.

Talo turned his head and saw that the old baboon had disappeared. Talo's green eyes shot back to the golden lion, who had stepped closer to Kovu and Kiara. The two other lions were staring as though they had seen a ghost.

"That's impossible." Talo said. "I pushed you…and you fell….and the hyenas…"

"If I were you, I would get a more reliable creature than a hyena to check if your brother's dead or not. Better yet, check yourself." Shalu told him, his voice hard.

Talo blinked at him. Shalu was different. He could feel it, and Talo didn't like it one bit. Why is he staring at me like he knows everything, Talo thought to himself. He can't know everything…can he?

Malie stared wide-eyed at Shalu, who's full attention was on Talo. Impossible, she thought to herself. I thought he was dead!

Talo swallowed. "Where were you?" He managed to say.

"I was in the jungle." Shalu told him. "I ran away after you tried to kill me."

Talo snorted. "So you ran away to hide…coward."

"I was." Shalu admitted softly, breathing loudly. "Talo…what are you doing?"

Talo stared at him. "I'm ruling Pride Rock, what does it look like?"

"It looks like you're about to murder our parents." Shalu told him slowly, hoping that Talo couldn't see how hard he was shaking.

Talo's eyes hardened, his brain beginning to focus again. "About to? Rest assured Shalu I will finish what I started. After I finish with you." Talo told him.

"Why?" Shalu demanded, angry. "Why did you kill Vitani, Simba and Nala? Why do you want mom and dad dead? They did nothing to you!"

"Exactly!" Talo broke in. "They did nothing! They left me in the graveyard to die!"

"Talo the Great Kings-" Shalu began.

"Oh the wonderful Great Kings." Talo snorted at him. "They made you king when I was stronger, smarter, and bigger. They chose you when we were just born, Shalu. Did you know that, Oh Chosen One? Or did Mufasa leave that little part out when he told you to come and fight me?"

Shalu flinched slightly and Talo smirked. "So you did meet the Great King then, appeared to you in a puddle, maybe. Is he really as great as they say? Or is he just a pathetic lion that hides behind a big name? Personally I'm leaning toward the latter."

Shalu glared. "Mufasa was a great king. He made a mistake, just like you're doing right now."

"Oh give me a break Shalu, are you so dense that you can't even see that your precious king is a phony?"

"Are you so bitter that you'd kill off your family because someone didn't chose you to be king?" Shalu asked angrily.

Talo growled loudly. "I am ten times the king you could ever be. I should've been chosen by Mufasa, not you. You weak, pathetic, stupid little cub." Talo spat at him.

Shalu narrowed his eyes. "Don't." He said slowly. "Don't Talo."

"Why not? Scared of the truth?" Talo prodded. "Scared that maybe I'm right, and the Great Kings are wrong? Did you ever consider that?"

"The Great Kings are wrong about some things." Shalu told him. "They thought I was Mufasa, and that you're Scar. I don't think that's true." Shalu's bangs tickled his forehead as he spoke. The wind was brushing along his face, but he ignored it. "But whether you think I wouldn't make a good king or not, they did chose me. And if its the last thing I do I'm going to take over the throne when its my time, just like they wanted."

Talo rolled his eyes. "Did you practice that on your run over here?"

"I didn't have to." Shalu corrected, his throat dry. He looked over at his parents, both of them were looking shocked and maybe a little scared. I'm bigger than dad, he realized in wonder. Not by much, but I have grown since I've been gone. Shalu almost smiled, but a low snarl turned his attention to the lioness who had walked up close to Talo.  
"Shalu." She said slowly.

"Malie." Shalu affirmed. "You're the one I should be thanking for the nightmares about the elephant graveyard!" Shalu bit back.

Malie chuckled and Shalu felt cold. He glanced at Talo and saw his brother move slightly as though trying not to shiver. She creeps Talo out too, Shalu thought to himself. Good, that means he still has some feelings.

"I'll take that as a compliment, baby prince." She crooned at him, her yellow eyes flashing.

Shalu glared at her. "You took my brother away." He accused.

Malie shrugged. "I had to take one of you. And you were so small and weak, it was an easy choice on which cub to steal. Besides-" She smirked at him. "If you really were my cub, I would've given you to the plains when you were born, as wimpy as you were."

Shalu felt anger spark in his stomach as he snarled and pushed up until he was close to Malie's face, his amber eyes narrowed. "I got bigger." He told her. "And stronger, and I can tell you one thing, I was already smarter than both you and your partner." He growled.

Talo glowered at the two of them. "_Temporary_ partner." He emphasized, a little annoyed at their conversation which seemed partly to be about him.

"Still partners." Shalu told him bitterly. "I'd watch out if I were you Talo." He added, glancing at Malie, anger rolling around inside of him. "Grandfather said never turn your back on an outsider."

Malie lunged and shoved Shalu to the ground, her snarl echoed in the barks of the hyenas. Shalu threw her off of him into the dirt. Malie pulled herself up, growling as Talo leapt and dragged Shalu to the ground. Shalu struggled out of his brother's grip and Talo grabbed onto Shalu's back, digging in his claws. Shalu gave a cry and twisted away from Talo, stumbling on the rocks. Shalu turned and found Talo baring down on him. Talo swiped at Shalu's head and Shalu's body buckled as he hit the ground. He was breathing hard as he stood up, watching Talo.

"This time I'm going to make sure I kill you right." Talo snarled. "And then, I will be the only possible king." He charged at Shalu, who closed his eyes, as his knees began to buckle again.

There was a roar and another snarl. Shalu opened his eye and saw Talo struggling to get up. Shalu blinked and saw a pale colored lioness standing in front of him. She turned her head and Shalu's breath caught in his throat as he met grass-green eyes.

"Lia?" He croaked. "I thought you were going to stay in the jungle."

"I was." Lia assured him, looking ashamed. "But then I realized I was just acting like a coward."

Talo pulled himself to his feet and glared as Shalu stepped up near Lia. "Found yourself a lion friend?" Talo teased. "She's pretty." Talo admitted. "But a bit too feisty for you."

"What would you know about lionesses?" Lia growled at him. "You're living with an old one and some hyenas. There's a nice company."

Malie growled out an order and hyenas swarmed to where Lia and Shalu were. Lia tore at a hyena that jumped at her as Shalu heard his father give an ear-splitting roar. Lionesses poured out of the cave and Shalu smacked a hyena away from his legs.

Malie backed off through the hyenas. She stopped suddenly and stared at Kiara who was blocking her path.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kiara dared.

Malie glared at her. "Through you!"

Shalu pinned a hyena under his paws and bit at another one that came close by. "Shalu!" Lia cried out and he glanced at her. "Your brother!"

Shalu looked and saw Talo glance at him and then run up the path toward the top of Pride Rock. Shalu roared and plowed through the hyenas, swatting them out of his way until he got to the path. He lunged up it and stopped short when he reached the top, the wind kicked at his body and he stepped onto Pride Rock's peak, watching his brother.

Talo turned from the edge of Pride Rock to face him. His chest was heaving and his eyes were flashing. "Why didn't you just die!" Talo demanded.

"You don't mean that." Shalu said, taking another step. "We're brothers…"

"Not anymore." Talo growled. "Why did you have to come back and play hero, Shalu? Why did you have to be Mufasa? All noble and….and good."

"I am not Mufasa!" Shalu shouted. "Talo…listen to me."

Talo shook his head. "I'll kill you Shalu…just like I killed Vitani."

Shalu took another step closer. The fight in him was boiling his blood, but he tried to push it down. I'm not going to fight him, his mind roared at the Great Kings whose blood flowed in his veins

"I'm not going to fight you." Shalu whispered. "I don't want to fight you Talo, and I can't."

"Good, then this will be easy." Talo leapt and Shalu barely jumped out of the way. Talo's claws ripped at empty air and he whirled on his brother again.

"Talo…" Shalu tried again.

"Stop it Shalu, you're wrong, just like them!" Talo growled. "They picked you the day we were born, Shalu." Talo's breath was coming fast, in heaving blows. "I remember."

Shalu shook his head. "No one can remember that far."

"Well I do!" Talo defended. "I remember being presented, the animals were cheering us both. And then this light…this golden light came down from the Great Kings…on you. Blessing you, choosing you. Not me. They celebrated you, the future king, they didn't even look at me twice and you know why Shalu?" Shalu swallowed and stepped away from his brother's advance. "Do you know why they chose you? Not because you'd be the better king, but because you look just like Mufasa and I look just like Scar. We were brothers. Whose more likely to turn the kingdom wrong? The dark cub of course. So they chose you, Shalu. They chose you and ignored me."

"You're not Scar, Talo." Shalu told him, jumping out of the way as Talo pounced at him again. "I don't care if you look like him, or if Malie told you that you were his successor, or if the Great Kings didn't chose you because they thought you'd follow in his paw prints. You are not Scar, and we are not Mufasa and Scar. Talo we were best friends, I would never have killed you…and I'm not going to now."

"Then stay still!" Talo growled, tearing at Shalu's body. Shalu growled and skidded out of the way, but not before Talo's claws tore at his shoulder. Shalu glanced at his shoulder and saw a drop of blood stain his fur.

Shalu looked back up at his brother. "Talo don't you remember when we were cubs? We said we were going to rule together, me and you."

Talo laughed bitterly. "There can' be two kings on Pride Rock, Shalu. If you believe that then your even dumber than I thought."

Shalu swallowed, this wasn't working. He had tried every possible way to get his brother to turn back to the way he was and not be bitter. But then what had Mufasa said? Hadn't he said that Talo was always bitter?

"Talo, you're angry at the Great Kings." Shalu said slowly. "Not mom and dad, not Vitani, and not me. Can't you see Malie just twisted you around?"

"Maybe Malie untwisted me. Maybe I am right, did you think if that Shalu?"

"Malie just wants the Pride for herself." Shalu told him, sidestepping out of Talo's way again. "When you've done her dirty work for her do you really think she's going to keep you around to rule the Pride?"

Talo smirked. "You don't think I've thought of that? I'll get rid of her before she can get rid of me." Talo snarled and made a grab at Shalu. Shalu stumbled out of the way, panting. He couldn't keep avoiding his brother.

"Okay…maybe the Great Kings did make a mistake." Shalu admitted slowly. "Maybe you would've made the better King."

"You bet they made a mistake." Talo advanced towards him.

"Then shouldn't you be trying to prove them wrong." Shalu suggested. Talo stopped and stared at him. "They didn't pick you because you were the dark cub, because you thought you'd follow in Scar's paw-prints. Shouldn't you be proving that you won't?"

"I am proving them wrong, Shalu." Talo said uneasily. "Who's ruling Pride Rock, me or you?"

"Darkness is ruling Pride Rock." Shalu spat at him. Talo stood there, still as stone. "All your doing right now is proving they were right, that you are dark and evil, that you did take over the Pride Lands."

Talo swallowed, his vision blurry. Be quiet Shalu, his mind roared. Just let me do this and be done with it. Just be quiet.

"Talo we're brothers…and so what if we didn't chose who got to be king, or that we can't both be king…we can still be brothers, friends." Shalu pleaded.

Talo shook his head. "This is how it is, Shalu. Accept it and fight me." Talo demanded.

Shalu growled. "No."

"Fine!" Talo leapt and Shalu went down underneath him. He struggled to get away but Talo wouldn't allow it. Okay fine, Shalu thought to himself and head-butted Talo off of him. Talo gasped and backed away before a small smile came across his face.

"You did get a little bigger." He admitted softly before lunging at Shalu again. Shalu growled and snapped at Talo's claws that came toward him. Talo's front paws landed on Shalu and Shalu slapped them away. Talo jumped out of Shalu's way and growled back. He dove and knocked Shalu's legs out from under him and he felt Shalu's claws scrape his legs. Shalu rolled over in the dust and cringed slightly as Talo was on top of him. Shalu could feel the edge of Pride Rock inches from his face and he swallowed, trying to twist away but Talo pushed him back. Shalu glared and buckled his body, knocking the wind from Talo as he kicked out at him with his paws. Talo sprawled to the edge of the rock and, scraping at the loose rock, fell.

Shalu leapt up and ran close to the edge, looking over. Talo hung there on a small ledge, his claws dug into the hard stone, his muscles tightening. "Talo!" He called and Talo glanced up at him, green eyes wide with fear.

"You look just like Mufasa…that lion from my dreams that would always come, making me feel guilty." Talo said softly.

"Shalu." Shalu told him. "I'm Shalu, not Mufasa. Talo hold on."

Talo chuckled, and it surprised Shalu how much of a real laugh it was. "Well I'm certainly not going to let go…" He looked up at Shalu's face and his face changed. "You've got two options…you can let me fall or help me up." Talo blinked. "If I were you, after all I've done to you, I'd let me fall." He said hoarsely.

Shalu smiled slightly. "Well I guess it's a good thing I'm not you." He reached down with his paw and Talo grabbed it, his claws scraping the rock as Shalu pulled him up.

After they were both on solid ground Shalu sat down, his chest heaving. His brother was still bigger and much heavier than he was. Talo let out a long breath and looked at him. "I could kill you right now, you know."

Shalu looked at him. "Are you going to?"

Talo blinked at him. Shalu wasn't scared, it surprised Talo. Shalu had always been the scared one, and he the daring one. Talo always felt like he was trying to prove something, and would run off doing crazy stunts that could get him killed. Maybe I was the coward, Talo thought to himself. He glanced at Shalu. If I wasn't then I certainly am now, he decided slowly. I'm not doing Malie's dirty work, or mine for that matter, anymore. "I'm not going to kill you." He said slowly, looking into Shalu's eyes. Shalu blinked and smiled.

"What took you so long?" Shalu wondered.

Talo smiled slightly, but then the smile fell as realization of all that he'd done hit him in a wave. Talo sat down hard, staring at nothing. "I killed them all." He looked at his brother's confused face. "Shalu I killed them all, I was going to kill mom and dad. I killed them all…how could I be so stupid?"

Shalu nudged his brother assuredly, wondering what to say.

"I killed my family." Talo muttered.

"You killed traitors." The two brothers looked up to see Malie stepping near them. That is not what should be said, Shalu decided, standing up near his brother. "You did right in killing them." Malie went on.

Talo shook his head. "No…no I didn't."

Malie glared at him. "Weak, both of you. Just like your father and mother." She glanced at them. "If I had been your mother this wouldn't have happened." Shalu fought the urge to roll his eyes. "If Kovu hadn't been weak and gone to Kiara-"

"You mean fell in love." Shalu corrected.

"Pride-Lander." Spat Malie. "I'll kill you both and take over the throne that should've been mine!"

Talo stared at her, trying to wrap his mind around what to do. It seemed that ever since he'd fallen and Shalu had saved his life his mind was twisting around in loops and he couldn't think straight.

Shalu felt the wind breeze around him, Talo looked quite startled as the wind also brushed against his face. "I said I wouldn't kill my brother." Shalu whispered, narrowing his eyes. "I never said anything about killing you!" Shalu rammed Malie in the side and she fell in the dust. Shalu growled and leapt at her. But Malie met him with her claws and fangs, throwing him off into the dirt across the top of Pride Rock.

Malie bared her teeth and leapt at him. Talo lunged and knocked her away, ripping at her shoulder. Shalu struggled to stand up as he saw Malie pounce at Talo and pin him to the ground, not missing the chance to scratch at his leg. Talo shoved her with his hind legs. Malie scratched at Talo's face. He moved at the last moment and her claws tore at the skin on his neck. Talo backed away, wincing. The cut wasn't life-threatening, but it hurt. Malie growled and pounded him to the ground as he tried to move away. Talo looked up at her, his breath coming fast, staring at her yellow eyes.

"You pathetic little Prince." She laughed. "You never could beat me."

Talo struggled to get out but Malie held him there with her weight. Shalu roared and rushed at Malie, his teeth sunk into her should and she made a pained noise. Malie stumbled back and Talo rushed at her, batting her away. She slipped and fell off the edge, disappearing.

Shalu and Talo looked at each other, their faces wide with surprise. The two brothers stepped close to the edge and looked down to see Malie's broken body lying on the stones below. The rain started, falling on her and mixing with the drops of blood on the stone.

Talo smiled slightly. "I guess I did throw her off Pride Rock after all." Talo glanced at Shalu from the corner of his eye. "Are you…okay?" He asked.

Shalu nodded. "And you?"

"Fine." Talo looked away. "Shalu…I'm so so sorry."

Shalu smiled slightly. "I am too."

Talo glanced him. "For what? You didn't do anything?"

"I could've stopped you before you went to the Elephant Graveyard. Then maybe this wouldn't have ever happened."

Talo shrugged. "Or maybe Malie would've found another way. And besides-" He smiled slyly. "If none of this had happened you wouldn't have met that friendly lioness. Who I still think is much too feisty for you." He added.

Shalu laughed. "Yeah, you might be right…on both points."

Talo grinned at him. Shalu glanced out to the Pride Lands and narrowed his eyes in concentration. "What is that?" He asked, watching a black and gray swarm near Pride Rock.

Talo squinted and his smile widened. "It's the hyenas. They must've either seen Malie's body-"

"Or the lionesses won." Shalu said happily. He turned and bounded to the path. "Come on let's go see if they're okay." He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Talo?" He asked, turning around.

Talo stood at the edge of Pride Rock, staring at the dark clouds that were beginning to break up, though the rain was still pattering around him.

"Shalu….I can't."

Shalu took a step towards him, looking unsure. "Can't…what?"

"I can't face mom and dad yet." Talo turned and met his eyes. "I did too much to them and the pride." Talo muttered, his eyes sad.

"If you think they won't forgive you, don't." Shalu told him. "They're your parents…if you ask them to forgive you, they will."

Talo smiled sadly. "I know…but I can't forgive myself just yet." He looked hard at his brother. "Shalu you've never done anything like I did…I nearly killed you…I did kill my aunt, I ordered the death of my grandparents and I'd be surprised it I didn't severely tick off the Great Kings. I can't forgive myself for doing that…not right away…not just because you saved my life, or that Malie's dead." Shalu opened his mouth to protest and Talo shook his head to stop him. "Shalu Malie didn't make me do it…I wanted to, at least a part of me did. I was bitter, maybe I still am a little bit. But she didn't force me to do any of it."

"You're going to run away." Shalu said softly. "Aren't you?"

Talo looked slightly ashamed.

Shalu swallowed, then nodded. "I guess everyone has to run away at some point…right?"

Talo tried to smile. "Yeah, you might be right." Talo backed away.

"Where are you going to go?" Shalu asked him.

Talo shrugged. "Any suggestions?" He asked mischievously.

Shalu smiled. "The jungle's nice. There's an old lion who's pretty smart, and he might need some good company."

A grin greeted his request. "Do you think he'd mind."

"I don't think Palini would mind at all." Shalu assured him.

Talo backed away, heading towards the other edge of Pride Rock. Shalu stopped him. "Do you think, maybe one day, you'll come back?" Talo looked away, then back to his brother's amber eyes.

"No promises?" The dark lion asked.

The light lion smiled. "No promises."

Talo nodded and turned to lope down the path. Shalu waited until he'd disappeared from view before turning down his own path. Halfway down he saw a black speck jump from the back of Pride Rock and hit the grass, beginning to run across the plains. A dark animal moving in and around the dead grass. Shalu turned from watching him, tears in his eyes, and found his way back to the pride, limping slightly.

The hyenas had all fled, and not one lioness was dead, though many were worse for the wear. Lia bounded up to Shalu and pinned him to the ground, smiling.

Shalu laughed. "You would think I'd been pinned enough tonight." He told her. Lia grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry….I'm just so happy you're okay." She let him up, but not before giving him a lick on the cheek. Shalu blushed.

"I am too." He looked her over. "You're okay?'

She nodded, nuzzling his mane. "I'm fine, never better actually."

"So…" Shalu started. "How long are you planning on staying?"

Lia smiled into his red hair. "A while."

"Won't you miss the jungle?"

"I'm sure that since you know your way around it so well you can help me not miss it, Pride-Lander." She teased, looking up at him.

Shalu quirked a grin. "Are you trying to flatter me?" He questioned.

Lia grinned. "Of course not…..did it work?"

"Most definitely." Shalu said, rubbing her nose.

Shalu looked and saw his parents step up beside him. He turned from Lia to nuzzle his mother. "Shalu." She whispered to him. "You're alive."

Shalu turned and looked at his father, who was smiling at him. "You grew up." Kovu said.

Shalu shrugged. "A little." He admitted.

"I'm glad you're okay." Kovu glanced over his shoulder. "What happened to Talo?"

Shalu looked away. "He…ran away. He couldn't forgive himself." Shalu met his father's eyes and Kovu smiled, seeming to accept it for what it was. "I know how he felt. I couldn't forgive myself for going to the Elephant Graveyard…and I didn't think you'd forgiven me either…so I ran."

"It was never your fault." Kiara told him.

Shalu smiled. "Yeah…I know, Talo told me. He's really not that bad of a lion…just confused."

The King of Pride Rock smiled at his son. "Shalu, one day you are going to make a very good king. Maybe as good as Mufasa."

Shalu smiled and felt a light breeze whistle around his head. "I'd rather not be compared to the Great Kings anymore. It's a bit overwhelming." Shalu glanced at sky, waiting for the stars.

Kiara smiled at her son as Kovu laughed. Lia stepped close to Shalu, nudging him affectionately in the shoulder. Kiara felt at ease as she nodded pleasantly at her son's future mate. Shalu had found his place, even if it took a little while, she decided. Kiara looked up at the sky, watching as the clouds began to break up and the stars casting their glow on the land, nothing blocking their majestic light from shining on Pride Rock.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay only the epilogue left...which I will be posting in the minutes following my posting of this chapter.

I hope you guys aren't too put out for me not killing off Talo...Shalu and Talo are not Mufasa and Scar (as Shalu pointed out) and therefore are not going to be tied to the sad fates of their great-grandfather and great-great uncle. Besides, where would my sequal be if Talo was dead? Also I hope the falling off Pride Rock was not too redundant...I just didn't want either Talo or Shalu to have the horrible job of ripping Malie's throat out or something like that. :)

All right by now you guys should know what to do...Review please!


	11. Epilogue

So this is the last installment of this story (which is why they call it the epilogue). I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't think I really need one for this chapter since it's so short...but oh well..."I don't own anything you recognize from the Disney movies/books/merchandise".

Kudoos!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue

Talo meandered through the thick foliage, carefully stepping over the flowers and sharp sticks. His nose twitched at the strange scents and his ears buzzed with the new sounds. He jumped over a mud puddle and continued on the path he'd found. Shortly he came to an opening and found himself near a cave. Out in front sat and old lion. The lion looked at him and smiled.

"Hello."  
Talo crept up near him. "I'm Talo."

"Shalu's brother." Palini affirmed, smiling. "I'm Palini. You may have met my daughter…if you came from Pride Rock." He added knowingly.

"Shalu's feisty lioness friend? Yeah, we met." Talo winced slightly at the memory. He swallowed. "Do you think that maybe…I could…"

"Stay?" Palini offered. "I see no reason not to. It seems every Prince needs to feel the jungle at some point." He smiled pleasantly and nodded towards the butterflies he was watching, that fluttered around on the multi-colored flowers. "Besides…it gets lonely in the jungle. One may start talking to his reflection."

Talo grinned and sat down, meeting the lion's old eyes. The breeze ran around the clearing, swirled dust, pulling at flowers and leaves, and threading around back up to the star studded sky.

The End

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know "The End" is a corny way to end a story...so call me corny. I hope you guys enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. And there is going to be a sequal somewhere in the near future if any of you guys care. Just bear with me on that note. :) :)

Well if you haven't reveiwed yet please do so soon. Thanks so much guys!


End file.
